British retail sales growth slowed slightly in November against a backdrop of smaller price rises, but retailers are upbeat about Christmas, figures from the Confederation of British Industry showed on Wednesday. The CBI said its monthly retail sales balance fell slightly to +27 in November from +31 in October, a somewhat bigger drop than the fall to +30 forecast by economists polled by Reuters. But retailers' expectations for December picked up to +38, their highest level since September. "We're seeing encouraging signs that pressure on family budgets is letting up, and ... there can be some optimism for ... (full story)