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| UK retail sales see surprise rise in October | UK retail sales see surprise rise in October |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| UK retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.6% month-on-month in October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. | UK retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.6% month-on-month in October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. |
| Sales volumes had been expected to fall because it was thought the warmer weather would have put people off buying winter clothes. | Sales volumes had been expected to fall because it was thought the warmer weather would have put people off buying winter clothes. |
| The ONS said the food sector had seen a boost in October, driven mostly by promotions and pre-Christmas sales. | The ONS said the food sector had seen a boost in October, driven mostly by promotions and pre-Christmas sales. |
| Sales volumes in small stores rose 5.3% year-on-year - the biggest increase since November 2004. | Sales volumes in small stores rose 5.3% year-on-year - the biggest increase since November 2004. |
| "The retail sales figures were better than expected, although longer-term comparisons still point to a flat picture," said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce. | |
| "While the improvement in sales is welcome, the relentless squeeze on disposable incomes will put pressure on people's ability to spend in the next few quarters," he added. | |
| Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said the latest sales figures provided a "significant boost to the hope that the economy can keep growing". | |
| However, he added that shoppers were likely to be "very cautious in their spending for some considerable time to come". | |
| Earlier on Thursday, the latest monthly consumer confidence index from the Nationwide found that confidence in October had fallen to the lowest level since the survey began in May 2004. | |
| The index fell for the fifth month in a row last month to a value of 36, well below the long-running average of 78. |