Black Friday discounts encouraged British consumers to increase their spending on the high street and online in November, despite the most protracted squeeze on household income in memory. Economists have previously that warned stronger spending growth may be coming at the expense of household savings as a result of rising prices and weaker earnings growth. Economists said the sales increase would help boost GDP growth in the final three months of the year. Non-food sales rose 1.5% in November from the previous month, while household goods sales – which includes electrical appliances in hot demand over Black Friday – were up 2.9%. There was a 1.4% rise in sales of textiles, clothing and footwear, while food sales increased by 0.6%.

Source: The Guardian December 14, 2017 11:03 UTC