Q3 Consumer Spending Revised Lower, Savings.>

UK DATA: Q3 Consumer Spending Revised Lower, Savings Decline

-UK Q3 Household Spending +0.3% vs +0.4% previous estimate

-UK Q3 Savings Ratio Down to 5.4% from 6.0% in Q2

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UK consumers were less indulgent in the third quarter than originally 

reported, raising questions about the future path of economic growth. 

Household spending rose by just 0.3%, below the 0.4% pace in the first 

iteration of GDP, and down from a 0.5% gain in Q2. Consumption added 

just 0.17pp to total growth, as all three output components were revised 

upward, taking GDP growth to 0.4%. The household savings ratio declined 

to 5.4% from 6.0% in Q2. More recent data suggest a further softening of 

consumer spending, long a source of resilience even as growth has 

slowed. Retail sales, published Thursday, declined by 0.6% in November, 

the fourth straight month without an increase.