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Retailers in the UK are struggling this holiday season as inflation combined with slow wage growth squeeze shoppers. Analysts say that rising food prices are forcing consumers to focus on the essentials – leaving them without extra money for holiday purchases. The amount of money consumers spent on food in the last 12 months, for example, rose by an average of 3.4 percent. That's the biggest increase since March 2013.

November brought relief as growth in retail sales perked up after last month's dip. But Black Friday, the big retail event of the month, failed to fundamentally shift underlying trends in spending, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, told the Telegraph earlier this month. Food sales were responsible for pretty much all the growth this month as higher prices continue to absorb more of the weekly shopping budget. Non-food sales, the focus of Black Friday, fell as the squeeze on household incomes continues to impact discretionary spend.

All in all, spending only increased by 2.8 percent in November, a rate which is less than the rate of inflation, suggesting that consumers are cutting back. And estimates suggest that holiday spending is likely to decrease for the first time in five years. All in all, it looks like it will be a less-than-ideal holiday shopping season for retailers in the UK this year.