Plunging UK Retail Sales Deepen Concern About Broader Slowdown

A dramatic drop in UK retail sales is raising fresh questions about the sustainability of Britain's recent growth spurt and Prime Minister Keir Starmer's plans to use it to restore controversial benefit cuts.
The volume of goods sold online and in shops dropped 2.7% in May, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. Not only was that the sharpest decline since December 2023, it was enough to wipe out the combined gains over the previous four months of the year. Economists had expected retail sales to fall only 0.5% last month.

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