U.K. Retail Sales Accelerate in November on Black Friday Deals

U.K. retail sales accelerated visibly in November, new figures showed Thursday, as Britons flocked to shops to take advantage of Black Friday discounts.

The figures indicated a pickup in consumer spending in the final quarter of the year, a welcome sign for the largely domestic-driven economy.

Sales grew by 1.1% on the month in November, more than twice the pace of growth seen in the previous month, and significantly above the expectations of analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal, who expected monthly growth of 0.5%.

The growth in retail was driven largely by strong sales of electrical household appliances, government statisticians said.

The U.K. economy has slowed visibly this year, as accelerating inflation, spurred by the pound's steep depreciation after last year's Brexit vote, squeezed consumer spending.

Write to Wiktor Szary at Wiktor.Szary@wsj.com and Jason Douglas and Jason.Douglas@wsj.com

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December 14, 2017 04:50 ET (09:50 GMT)