LONDON, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Pre-Christmas gift buying brought festive cheer for British retailers, according to data released Thursday from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) .
The figures were impressive on a month-to-month basis, rising 1.4 percent on the month in November, much higher than the economists' expectation for a 0.3 percent rise.
Household goods sales rose by 5.3 percent on the month in November, the biggest increase since the end of 2013, which thanks to Black Friday discount sales and Christmas bargains in the November sales.
Online sales as a proportion of all retailing exceeded 20 percent for the first time, with all online retailing accounting for 21.5 percent of total retailing on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.
"Sales in December might be a little weaker as consumers probably bought some Christmas presents early," said Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, a London-based financial data analysis firm.
Pugh said that wages were now outstripping inflation, with annual growth at 3.3 percent according to figures to the end of November and Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation at 2.3 percent for November and on a falling trajectory.
"The big picture is that a continued acceleration in real earnings, assuming a Brexit deal is signed, should give household spending a boost next year," said Pugh.
