The British Retail Consortium has reported a drop in sales of non-food items, such as clothing and electrical goods. A drop of 0.4% has been posted for the month of July, August and September in comparison to last year. This is believed to be the first drop of the year.

Due to the excess demand of households, the demand for all the expensive items such as fitted kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms came out to be feeble.

Stephen Robertson, Director General of the BRC said that since people had become more cautious, there had been a decline in spending over major items. Though the BRC declared that a new recession could still be prevented yet it also warned that the third quarter of the year had seen the economy slow down.

The austerity measures planned by George Osborne were likely to mount pressure on the economy. And as for the second quarter of the year, the economy is aid to have witnessed a growth by 1.2%.

With the Chancellor planning to get the Government debt under control, he is likely to outline the biggest programme of spending cuts in the comprehensive spending review which is to take place next week.

“We hold our breath as to whether the upcoming spending review will derail current retail spending further. Confidence is fragile”, said Helen Dickinson, Head of retail at KPMG.