UK shoppers curb spending in May - BRC

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the UK retailers’ group, the UK retail spending was scaled back by the most in more than 20 years in May, in the wake of the looming Brexit uncertainty.

Key Findings:

“Retail sales sank by an annual 2.7%, the biggest fall - excluding distortions caused by the timing of Easter - since the British Retail Consortium’s records began in 1995.

The BRC said May’s fall should be seen in the context of an unusually strong jump of 4.1% in May 2018, when sales were boosted by sunny weather and the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which encouraged consumers to hit the shops.

Sales rose by 0.2% in the three months to May, the weakest growth since the three months to March 2017.

In like-for-like terms, which smoothes out changes in the amount of retail space, sales fell by 3.0% in May, the biggest fall since the end of 2008, excluding Easter periods.”

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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