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UK retail sales rise more than forecast

London - UK retail sales rose more than economists forecast in November as Black Friday discounts boosted department stores and sales of household goods.

Sales volumes increased 1.7% from October, when they fell 0.5%, the Office for National Statistics said in London on Thursday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted a 0.6% gain. Excluding auto fuel, sales also gained 1.7%.

Discounts in the week leading up to Black Friday on November 27 helped lure shoppers, with sales at department stores rising 3.4% on the month and household goods jumping 4.1%, the statistics office said. Food sales rose just 0.8%.

The figures underline the extent to which growth is being driven by domestic spending as the global slowdown weighs on manufacturing and exports. That’s in part due to the boost to real incomes from near-zero inflation.

Retail prices excluding auto fuel, measured by the annual deflator, dropped 2.3% in November, the most since 2002.

“A continued fall in prices as well as promotions in the run up to Christmas have helped to boost the amount shoppers bought in November, both on the High Street and online,” Melanie Richard, an ONS statistician, said in a statement.

The pound was trading at $1.4956 as of 11:53, down 0.3% on the day.

No hurry

The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.5% this month and officials have indicated they are in no hurry to follow the Federal Reserve, which raised its key rate for the first time in almost a decade on Wednesday.

Sales rose 5% from a year earlier, and by 3.9% when fuel is excluded. In the three months through November, total sales rose 2.1%, the highest figure since February, indicating the retail sector will contribute to growth in the fourth quarter.

Internet sales made up 15.2% of total sales in November, the highest share since records began in January 2008.

The ONS carried out its data collection between November 1 and November 28 and therefore Thursday’s report doesn’t include so- called Cyber Monday, normally a big day for Internet sales.

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