UK consumers held back overall spending in September, with most incremental
outlays going to fuel while warm weather supported pubs and depressed clothing
sales, the British Retail Consortium and Barclays said. The BRC said total
retail sales rose 1.3% YoY in September, up from 0.7% in August but below the
12-month average of 1.5%. Barclays’ card-spend series showed annual growth of
2.0% in September, down from 2.1% in August. Barclays’ household financial
confidence index climbed to a seven-month high of 67, yet 68% of consumers said
they were concerned about Chancellor John Healey’s Oct. 28 budget and 30%
reported cutting discretionary spending.
