Barclaycard data for spending on its credit and debit cards
- +1.8% y/y September, the weakest reading since February 2021
- "Energy price increases are understandably causing concern for Brits, as they worry whether they will have enough money to cover their household bills," said Esme Harwood, director at Barclaycard. She said consumers were cutting back on discretionary spending, with a knock-on effect for hospitality and retail.
Data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) for retail only
- +2.2% y/y, August was +1.0%
- "While UK retail sales grew in September, this represented another month of falling sales volumes given high levels of inflation," said Helen Dickinson, the BRC's chief executive. "As consumer confidence continued to fall, people shopped cautiously, avoiding large ticket items such as new computers, TVs and furniture," she added The GfK index of consumer confidence fell last month to its lowest level since records began in the mid-1970s.
Info via Reuters report.
GBP/USD update:
