By Jason Douglas

LONDON--U.K. retail sales declined in October for the second-straight month, the latest sign that consumers are reining in spending.

The Office for National Statistics said Thursday that retail sales fell 0.5% in October compared with a month earlier, reflecting sliding sales of clothing and household goods.

Comparing the three months through October to the three months through September, retail sales growth slowed to 0.4% from 1.2%, the fourth-straight slowdown over a three-month period.

Consumer spending is an important engine of the British economy and weakening retail sales may foreshadow slower growth ahead for the economy more broadly.

Forecasters including the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund expect the U.K. economy to grow modestly next year as it begins reordering its economic ties with the European Union after its withdrawal from the bloc in March.

Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday secured her cabinet's backing for a hard-won Brexit plan that calls for close future ties to the EU, which buys around half of Britain's exports of goods and services. But she faces a potentially bigger test ahead in convincing a split and skeptical Parliament to back it.

Write to Jason Douglas at Jason.Douglas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 15, 2018 04:47 ET (09:47 GMT)

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