UK sees fall in job adverts, less consumer spending – ONS

LONDON (Reuters) – British consumer spending on credit and debit cards fell sharply in the week to June 9, as did visits to retail and recreation sites, weekly figures collated by the Office for National Statistics showed on Thursday.

Consumer spending on credit and debit cards – based on Bank of England CHAPS interbank payments which is not seasonally or inflation adjusted – dropped by 6 percentage points to 102% of its pre-pandemic average.

Google Mobility data showed that visits to ‘retail and recreation’ areas fell by 12% in the week to June 10 and were 86% of their pre-COVID level.

Jobs advertised on recruitment website Adzuna were down for all regions of the United Kingdom compared with three weeks earlier.

(Reporting by David Milliken, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)