Mild Weather 'Lifted Spending In October'
Mild autumn weather helped consumer spending grow at its fastest pace for three months in October, according to a report from Visa (Xetra: A0NC7B - news) .
A school half-term break that coincided with Halloween also helped as spending rose 2.1% year-on-year last month, up from a 1.9% rise in September.
The figures come as retailers gear up for the key pre-Christmas trading period launching high-profile advertising campaigns.
They showed that hotels, bars and restaurants saw the strongest spending growth in October - up 10%.
Recreation and culture was also ahead, as were clothing, footwear and household goods, according to the latest Visa Europe UK Expenditure Index.
Food and drink spending rose 2.1%, though outlay under the categories of health and education, and transport and communication, fell.
Visa said “face-to-face” spending on the high street rose slightly, by 1% - the first time it had increased for two months. E-commerce grew by 4.3%, though this was slower than in September.
Kevin Jenkins, managing director for the UK and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) at Visa Europe, said: "A mix of rising wages, improved job prospects and near-zero inflation gave households more money to spend and boosted the buying power of their pounds.
"The warm autumn weather and the school half-term break coinciding with Halloween meant people were spending more money on going away, eating out and entertaining.
"Looking forward, overall spending looks set to reach a higher level this month, as both online and store-based retailers are preparing to lure customers in with bigger and better Black Friday deals.
"It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) remains to be seen though whether this will come at the expense of trading later in the festive period."
Visa said the index was based on spending on all Visa debit, credit and prepaid cards which are used to make an average of more than 2.3 billion transactions every quarter.