It seems that despite its morale and pride boosting qualities the 2012 Olympics wasn’t completely good for the country. In fact, the once in a life time event is being cited as one of the reasons why UK retail sales fell in August.
According to the Office for National Statistics internet sales fell more than they have for nearly 5 years and sales including auto fuel were down on July by 0.2 per cent. Although this second figure was not as bad as the 0.3 per cent expectations of 22 economists involved in a Bloomberg survey it still demonstrates that the nation is a worrying distance from a return to growth. Internet sales account for the majority of non-retail sales and despite the decline being counteracted by a hike in sporting goods sales this figure dropped by a massive 6.7 per cent.
Along with uncertainty concerning the global economic outlook the distraction of watching the Olympics (which ran until August 12th) is considered a primary cause for poor sales, though you’d be forgiven for thinking that the British public spending less is the direct result of having less. Who knew that having something good on the telly could be so damaging to the economy? Maybe the recession would be over by now if someone cancelled Come Dine with Me…
Howard Archer, an economist with IHS Global Insight, was quoted as saying; ‘It seems likely that retail sales will remain muted overall in the near term at least. Consumers still face serious headwinds that are limiting their willingness as well as their ability to spend.’
With euro-zone PMI data lower than expected it’s been a bad day for Europe all round.
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 1.2506
The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.6183
The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.5565
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.2939
The Euro to Pound exchange rate is currently trading at 0.7994
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