Authors: Andy Bruce and Suban Abdulla

LONDON (Reuters) – British retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, official data showed on Friday, deepening a series of unfavorable economic indicators that are likely to further raise expectations of a Bank of England interest rate cut next month.

Retail sales, adjusted for Black Friday sales earlier in the month, fell 0.3% month-on-month in December, after a downwardly revised 0.1% boost in November, the Office for National Statistics said.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast monthly sales volume growth of 0.4% from November.

“This was due to a very poor month of food sales, which fell to their lowest level since 2013, with supermarkets particularly hit,” said Hannah Finselbach, senior ONS statistician.

Following the data, sterling fell by around a quarter of a cent against the US dollar, settling below $1.22.

Retail sales fell 0.8% across the fourth quarter, which the ONS says is likely to impact economic growth in the fourth quarter by around 0.04 percentage points.