Rising inflation leads to sales falls in all UK retail sectors apart from food

Clothing and footwear retailers particularly badly hit in July amid 'volatile' trends, says Office for National Statistics

Britain's consumers are taking a more cautious approach to shopping as higher inflation above the level of earnings eats into their spending power.

Only higher spending on food in supermarkets kept retail sales growing last month, with declines in all other main sectors, according to figures published on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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