UK consumer spend at three-year low

British retail sales growth slowed in August at the fastest pace in more than a year as the squeeze on consumers from rising prices continued.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) monthly retail sales balance slid to -10 in August from +22 last month, its lowest since July 2016 — just after Britons voted to leave the EU. The reading was far below even the lowest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists, all of whom expected only a modest slowdown in growth.

While retailers expected sales to pick up again next month, they were downbeat about the current business situation. Quarterly figures from the CBI showed retailers reduced staff at the fastest pace since 2009 and they did not expect an improvement soon.