UK Retail Sales Fall in Sept Despite Panic Buying of Fuel

People walk at Oxford Street, as the coronavirus disease restrictions ease, in London, Britain, on April 12, 2021. Henry Nicholls/Reuters

LONDON—British retail sales unexpectedly fell for a fifth month in a row last month, despite a rush of motorists filling their cars with fuel, adding to signs that Britain’s economic recovery is losing momentum.

Sales volumes dropped by 0.2 percent in September, official figures showed on Friday, as supply-chain problems led to gaps on store shelves. It marked the longest run of consecutive monthly falls since the series began in 1996 and bucked economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 0.5 percent.