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U.K. consumer confidence fell for a second month in December, complicating Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s efforts to revive his popularity before next year’s election, market researcher GfK NOP said.

An index of consumer sentiment dropped to minus 19 from minus 17 the previous month, GfK NOP said in an e-mailed statement today in London. A gauge of expectations for the economy over the next year fell nine points to minus six.

“This must be concerning for the government,” Nick Moon, an analyst at GfK, said in the statement. “What will be particularly worrying for Gordon Brown is that the index for the state of the economy, which had crept into positive territory, has fallen by a substantial nine points.”

Brown, who must call an election by June, is struggling to claw back the support lost to the opposition Conservatives during the financial crisis. Bank of England policy maker Kate Barker said Dec. 15 an economic recovery will be “bumpy,” and data released yesterday showed British retail sales unexpectedly fell in November for the first time in six months.

Retail sales growth will “fizzle out” next month, and trading conditions across the industry are likely to “remain challenging” in 2010, the Confederation of British Industry said yesterday instant personal loans guaranteed.

A gauge of the economy’s performance over the past year slipped two points to minus 61. A measure of consumers’ willingness to buy big items such as refrigerators and furniture rose three points to minus 16, GfK said.

Housing Recovery?

British consumers are still adapting to a recession that sparked the country’s worst housing slump since the early 1990s and has led to 600,000 job losses, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.8 percent. Barker said she would be “surprised” if the recent pick up in property prices were sustained next year as unemployment threatens household finances.

The market researcher surveyed 2,004 people between Dec. 4 and Dec. 12 on behalf of the European Commission. The margin of error is estimated at two percentage points, the report said.

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