Interesting little economic release from the UK that may be a big tell on the economy.
U.K. sales dropped 0.5 percent from July, when they rose 0.8 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. Economists predicted a 0.3 percent increase, according to the median of 23 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. On the year, sales rose 0.4 percent, the smallest increase since April.
The question is: Is UK austerity to blame for sapping demand across the economy? And if so, will that undermine the country's ability to get its budget in balance?
Obviously it's just one datapoint, though when combined with the sagging Greek and Irish economies, it's another datapoint that suggests problems in the world's austere nations.
This is one of our big themes to watch for the year -- the failure of spending cuts to accomplish anything (in the short and medium terms) for the economy.
The news whacked the pound this morning.
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See Also:
- 10 Big Stories Investors Must Follow Through The Rest Of The Year
- Why Are We Attacking Stimulus In America, While Austerity Is Failing In Europe?
- Despite Austerity, Romania, Serbia, And Hungary All Have Failed Bond Auctions
Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/YL6WNkivXxQ/august-uk-retail-sales-2010-9
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