date:Oct 30, 2013
Annual growth in British retail sales unexpectedly ground to a halt over the past month, hit by the first big fall in supermarket sales since February.
The CBI distributive trades surveys retail sales balance slumped to plus two from a 15-month high of plus 34 struck in September, a much weaker outturn than the plus 33 forecast by economists, and breaking a three-month run of strong sales growth.
However, the CBI said retailers were forecasting a return to solid sales growth next month, and th