UK: Retail sales surged by 1.2% in November - ING

James Smith, developed markets economist at ING, suggests that the UK retail sales surged by 1.2% during November should bring a little relief after a week of concerning headlines from the high street.

Key Quotes

“Away from the official data, the general sense from the British Retail Consortium and Visa is that Black Friday was relatively lacklustre this year. However, it’s worth remembering, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still relatively new phenomena to the UK, making it a nightmare for statisticians to accurately seasonally adjust the data.”

“Overall, we expect the economy to continue to lose momentum over the winter months. This means the Bank of England will have no choice but to remain on the sidelines until there is greater clarity on the path for Brexit.”