U.K. Retail Sales Drop Most Since 2011 as Inflation Bites
- Sales slumped 0.7% in three-months through March, BRC says
- Separate Barclaycard data shows spending climbed last month
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U.K. retail sales fell the most since 2011 last quarter as consumers started to feel squeeze from faster inflation.
Retail sales dropped 0.7 percent from a year earlier on a like-for-like basis, the British Retail Consortium said Tuesday, noting that the timing of the Easter holiday -- which this year falls in April -- may be distorting the numbers. Food sales declined 0.2 percent, their first decline since the period through August.