British retail sales growth in January slowed to its weakest in over a year, though not as much as analysts had feared. Retailers are also more optimistic about future business, a survey shows today.
The Confederation of British Industry said its distributive trades survey's reported sales balance fell to +4, its weakest rate since November 2006, from +8 in December.
Analysts had forecast no growth at all and the survey suggests that consumer demand is so far holding up despite fears of a swift slowdown in the economy this year.
The survey showed that while sales of groceries and essentials were still doing reasonably well, people were cutting back on spending on expensive items such as televisions and washing machines. The durable household goods sector saw its worst performance since October 2005.
