The latest retail trade figures may not be the horror show they appear to be at first sight,but they certainly don’t bode well for an economy that relies on households to power much of its growthEvery year around Christmas the news is full of stories from retail groups boasting of how the sales this year are the biggest ever, so it was with a just amount of cold water that the latest retail turnover figures released on Friday showed that trade was absolutely flat in December. While the figures were not as infamous as 0% growth might propose, and they do show signs of households being more circumspect approximately spending than they beget been for some while. Related: Public debt is not the issue – that's just a neo-con scare campaign | Philip Soos Related: Glass half empty: the latest figures make it hard to be optimistic approximately the economy | Greg Jericho Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com