UK Retail Sales Ease 0.3% On Year In December - BRC

(RTTNews) - Retail sales in the United Kingdom were down 0.3 percent on year in December, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday, as exceptionally snowy weather helped to keep shoppers out of the stores.

That follows a 0.7 percent annual increase in November, and it also marks the first decline in seven months.
For the fourth quarter of 2010, food sales were up an annual 2.1 percent and non-food sales fell 0.8 percent. Overall, sales for the quarter rose an annual 0.4 percent.
The forecast for next year offers little optimism, according to the BRC, saying that 2011 is likely to be "challenging."