U.K. Retail Sales Decline More Than Forecast on Cold Weather

From bloomberg.com

U.K. retail sales fell more than forecast in March as cold weather during the month depressed purchases of clothing and household goods. Sales including fuel fell 0.7 percent from February, when they increased 2.1 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of 23 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 0.6 percent decline. From a year earlier, sales declined 0.5 percent. Weak wage growth and accelerating inflation are squeezing household budgets, hitting sales on Britain’s high streets and at shopping malls. Bank of England policy makers are split on the need to ... (full story)