Retail sales suffer January slump

Retail sales dropped last month, according to a major trade association, as consumers reined in spending and decided to pay off debt and save instead.

Retail sales values were down 0.3% on a like-for-like basis in January, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said, the second worst January since the survey started 17 years ago. The figure compared to last January when sales had risen 2.3%.