BRC director general Kevin Hawkins said: "November's like-for-like sales growth was the lowest since last March and the mild weather was certainly a contributory factor. However, in recent years, November has been a consistently poor month for sales, so these latest figures are not really surprising."

Helen Dickinson, head of retail at KPMG, added: "Performance deteriorated as the month progressed and reflects the delicate state of the retail sector in the UK. High levels of promotional activity failed to drive the desired uplift and many retailers will be disappointed by November's results. Clothing and footwear particularly underperformed expectations. A real challenge lies ahead as December 2005 showed total and like-for-like growth above that of November and hence will be that much harder to beat."

According to the BRC's senior analyst, Joscelyne Hynard, food and drink sales held up well, but clothing sales fell back sharply after picking up in October, and showed the largest year-on-year fall since June. The mild and wet weather continued to depress sales of winter clothes and footwear, which also had its worst month since June.

Trends in electricals were similar to those seen in the past few months, and continued to vary across sectors and stores. Flat-screen LCD TVs remained big sellers, but it was another difficult month for DIY and gardening goods.

After three strong months, home accessories and house textiles slowed, though did remain up on a year ago. Overall sales of furniture and carpets remained well below year-earlier levels. Toiletries and cosmetics slowed after several strong months, to show the weakest growth since April, while home entertainments were mixed: buoyant for some, especially with promotions, but difficult for others, amid tough competition.

BRC/KPMG Retail Sales Monitor UK - November

Year-on-year like-for-like (November 2006 v November 2005) UP +0.5%

Year-on-year total sales (November 2006 v November 2005) UP +2.5%

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