Sharp fall in retail sales for January

According to recently released figures January saw a sharp fall in the level of retail sales, with sales levels falling at their sharpest level in a year and a half. Read more

Tags: retail sales, whilst, cash flows, bashing, recessions, food sales, Office for National Statistics, double dip recession

January sales may not end this year

Officials have stated that the January sales this year are likely to extend far beyond the traditional month, and will most likely go on for the rest of the year, giving consumers the chance to pick up bargains all around the year. Read more

Tags: poll, recession, retailers, janauary sales, retail sales, financial climate

August retail sales levels cause surprise

According to recent reports industry officials were pleasantly surprised recently when data showed that there had been an unexpected surge in retail sales levels for the month of August. The rise in retail sales levels was not a huge one, but many industry experts had been expecting sales levels to fall by around 0.5%, so the increase of 1.2% in high street sales came as good news. The figures came from the Office for National Statistics. Read more

Tags: retail sales, school period, overstretched household budgets, Marketing and Advertising, street

Credit card borrowing falls

The amount of money we borrow on credit cards fell in January, with industry experts saying this shows we are all managing our finances better.

Figures from the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BBA) show that borrowing on credit cards fell by £0.5 billion in the first month of 2007.

This is despite increases elsewhere across the board, with mortgage lending rising by £5.6 billion and total UK lending to the private sector growing by £21.9 billion.

A lack of borrowing on credit cards is being seen as a positive sign that personal finances are being better managed by the majority of the population.

“We can see that the January sales did not encourage borrowing on credit cards,” said David Dooks, director of statistics at BBA.

“As in the second half of last year, card borrowing is contracting and, with weaker retail sales being reported, this reflects the consumer’s current attitude to spending and their commitments.”

The BBA has also revealed that levels of unsecured personal lending were unchanged in January.

Figures for mortgage lending were in line with the monthly average increases for the last six months, with Mr Dooks saying that the rise was expected.

“Mortgage lending continued to be buoyant, as we expected following the high volumes of approvals in the final quarter of last year,” he added.

Tags: january sales, positive sign, Credit Cards, second half, retail sales, rise, January, credit