UK retail sales October 2017 0.3% vs 0.1% exp m/m

October 2017 UK retail sales report 16 November 2017

Prior -0.8%. Revised to -0.7%
-0.3% vs -0.6% exp y.y Prior 1.2%. Revised to 1.3%
Ex-fuel 0.1% vs 0.0% exp m/m. Prior -0.7%. Revised to -0.6%
-0.3% vs -0.4% exp y/y. Prior 1.6%
Sales deflator 3.1% vs 3.3% prior y/y. First drop since June

Better than expected but that really means it wasn’t as bad as expected, considering we’re dealing with negative numbers. Particular note should be made of the deflator (inflationary gauge).

From the ONS;

Underlying retail sales (3M/3M) rose 0.9%
Average store prices rose 3.1% compared to October 2016
Growth across all store types meant a strong October 2017
Quantity bought fell 0.3% y/y versus a year-ago; food stores taking the largest hit
Above average temperatures for October hurt clothing sales
Online sales rose y/y by 10.7%, makiing up approximately 16.9% of all spending
Underlying picture for sales is of steady growth
Oct 2017 suffers in comparison with a very strong Oct 2016