U.K. retail sales unexpectedly stalled in August as shoppers bought less clothing, a sign consumers are cutting back on spending as unemployment rises. Sales were unchanged from July, when they climbed 0.2 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast was for a 0.1 percent increase, according to a Bloomberg News survey of 30 economists. Sales climbed 2.1 percent from a year earlier. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said this week that households will keep feeling pain from the recession as the economy embarks on a ``highly uncertain'' recovery. (full story)