U.K. Retail Sales Bounce Back in October

U.K. retail sales rebounded in October, as the strong performance of the second-hand sector offset a drop in sales of clothes and footwear, new figures showed Thursday.

The U.K. Office for National Statistics said that retail sales grew 0.3% on month in October, beating analysts' expectations of 0.1% growth and bouncing back from September's 0.7% decline.

Second-hand stores--including auction houses and antique dealers--had a particularly busy month, driving the overall growth in sales, data showed.

Owners of clothing shops, meanwhile, complained that unseasonably warm weather dampened sales in October, government statisticians said.

However, on an annual basis, retail sales posted their first decline since early 2013, and were down by 0.3% compared with last year's very strong October showing.

Consumer price growth stood at 3% in October, the joint-fastest pace of inflation in more than five-and-a-half years.

Britain's economy has slowed visibly this year as consumers came under pressure from accelerating inflation spurred by the pound's steep decline in the wake of the Brexit referendum last year.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2017 04:52 ET (09:52 GMT)