UK Retail Sales Growth Cools as Budget Offsets Black Friday

Black Friday discounts failed to prevent a slowdown in UK retail sales as the Labour government’s budget damaged consumer confidence, according to a report by the British Retail Consortium.

Total retail sales increased just 1.4% year-on-year in November, below the 12-month average and the weakest pace since May, the BRC said Tuesday. Like-for-like growth declined to 1.2%. Strong sales of household appliances and computing products were not enough to compensate for weak demand for clothing and footwear.