Economics
U.K. Retail Sales Fall as New Variant of Virus Spooks Consumers
- BRC, Barclaycard surveys reveal impact of third lockdown
- Sector pinning hopes on pent-up savings, quick vaccine rollout
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England’s third lockdown hit non-essential retailers harder than the previous one in November, with the new variant of the coronavirus hampering spending and confidence last month, according to the British Retail Consortium.
Clothing and footwear stores fared particularly badly as retailers on the whole saw the value of sales decline from a year earlier, the business lobby said Tuesday. A similar picture emerged in a separate Barclaycard survey, which showed consumer spending falling sharply and Britons more worried about their jobs.