Retail sales unchanged in August. People in the UK were more cautious with their spending last month, as new figures have revealed retail sales remained at the same level in August as the month before.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that there was no growth in total sales volume between July and last month, although sales were 2.1% higher than in August 2008.
Stores mainly selling food saw a slight increase in sales of 0.7% between July and August and growth of 2.9% on a year ago, while volumes at predominantly non-food shops fell 0.6% between the two months.
Retailers of textiles, clothing and footwear suffered a decline in sales of 1.3% in the July to August period, however, indicating that shoppers reined in their high street spending over the summer.
The findings match those from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which said earlier this month that the growth recorded in June and July had not been sustained in August.
Responding to the ONS figures, BRC director general Stephen Robertson said that unemployment being at a 14-year high meant “most people are still very cautious about spending on expensive items”.
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