Pre-Budget “jitters” among shoppers dampened a much-needed Black Friday boost for retailers, figures show.

Total retail sales across the UK increased by 1.4% year on year in November – the weakest growth in six months despite elevated inflation, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG.

Food sales were up 3%, but even this was below the 12-month average growth of 3.6%.

Sales of products other than food increased by just 0.1% year on year, again below the 12-month average of 1.6%.

Online non-food sales increased by 0.5% against a decline of 10.3% last November, and below the average across the year of 2.5%.

Homeware and upholstery sold well as households prepared to host over the festive season, while fashion sales lagged as the mild first half of November dampened de

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