Retail spending in the U.K. fell 0.1% in October following a 0.5% decline in the previous month, which was much stronger than the 0.9% fall projected by economists. The breakdown of the report showed that consumption of household goods plunged 3.4% from the previous month, followed by a 1.5% decline in clothing and footwear. Fading employment opportunities paired with falling home prices continues to take a toll on consumers, and conditions may only get worse over the coming months as credit conditions remain far from normal. Deteriorating fundamentals paired with the dour outlook for growth suggests that the Bank of England will continue to ease policy further over the coming months as Europe’s second largest economy heads into a recession. The BoE minutes showed that MPC may continue to ease policy well into the next year in order to meet the 2% target for inflation, and may aggressively lower the benchmark interest rate over the coming months to stave off further downturns in the economy.