LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - British retail sales slumped by 3.7% in December from November when consumers did much of their Christmas shopping earlier than usual, according to official data which also suggested an impact from the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Compared with December 2020, sales volumes were down by 0.9%, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday.
Economists polled by Reuters had on average forecast that sales volumes would fall by a much less severe 0.6% on the month and would be 3.4% higher than a year earlier. (Reporting by William Schomberg, Editing by Paul Sandle)
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