Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

Shoppers are cutting back on spending as cost of living bites

by October 20, 2023
October 20, 2023
Shoppers are cutting back on spending as cost of living bites

Shoppers cut back on spending on clothes and other non-essential items last month as cost of living pressures and high energy prices began to bite on households.

Retail sales volumes fell by 0.9 per cent last month, exceeding economist expectations of a fall of 0.3 per cent, and wiping out the 0.4 per cent rise recorded in August.

The Office for National Statistics said the decline was the result of “continuing cost of living pressures, alongside the unseasonably warm weather reducing sales of autumn-wear clothing”.

Retail spending has held up well in recent months as the warm weather has encouraged greater spending and brought customers on to the high street but a key measure of household confidence unexpectedly fell this month, according to a survey by GfK, which reported an eight-point drop in sentiment in October to its weakest level since July.

Households have also said they will cut back on spending on food and gifts this Christmas as they battle with rising costs such as higher taxes, energy prices and mortgage costs.

Monthly spending in non-food shops declined by 1.7 per cent last month and online shopping by 2.2 per cent. Food sales was the only big spending category where spending volumes increased, by 0.2 per cent.

The September figures mean that overall retail sales contracted by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter of the year, compared with the same period last year. The data sends a worrying signal about the health of the economy, where growth has been kept in barely positive territory over the past three months. Latest figures for August showed that the economy expanded marginally by 0.2 per cent after a 0.4 per cent contraction in July.

Alex Kerr, at Capital Economics, said the figures suggested that the retail sector may have slipped back into recession after a brief recovery earlier this year. “The broad-based nature of these falls suggests that the lingering cost of living issues and the intensifying drag on activity from higher interest rates are at play,” Kerr said. “This doesn’t bode well for retail sales growth in the run-up to Christmas.”

Aled Patchett, head of retail and consumer goods at Lloyds Bank, said retailers would hope that continuing declines in inflation and sales during the festive period will entice consumers back to the shops by the end of the year.

Read more:
Shoppers are cutting back on spending as cost of living bites

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Republicans respond to Biden’s Oval Office speech that mentioned Ukraine, Hamas-Israel war: ‘Unbelievable’
next post
Taxpayers could lose £100m as HS2 land no longer needed is sold off

You may also like

Meta sued by 33 US states over claims...

October 25, 2023

Far fewer EU laws to be scrapped than...

April 28, 2023

Benefits of internships in 2025

January 20, 2025

Kwarteng considers extending mortgage guarantee scheme after banks...

October 7, 2022

Is The TEFL Academy a Scam? My Experience...

January 4, 2023

The Business Transformation Award finalists announced

February 15, 2023

Yodel creates more than 2,000 roles as it...

September 11, 2023

Crypto Converter: A User-Friendly Tool for Effortless Digital...

July 18, 2023

UK Manufacturing Sector Shows Signs of Recovery

April 3, 2024

Evri to create 9,000 jobs in competition with...

July 29, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • TSA tells Americans their Costco cards won’t fly at airport security despite love for hot dogs

      June 7, 2025
    • Trump announces China will restart rare earth mineral shipments to US after productive call

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk feud presents ‘unprecedented’ dynamic compared to past Trump disputes: expert

      June 7, 2025
    • Snub of Musk’s NASA nominee ally preceded sudden ‘big, beautiful bill’ criticism, Trump feud

      June 6, 2025
    • Supreme Court rules DOGE can access Social Security information

      June 6, 2025
    • US sanctions money laundering network aiding Iran as regime faces nuclear reprimand at IAEA

      June 6, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,149)
    • Investing (2,019)
    • Politics (15,558)
    • Stocks (3,134)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved