LONDON, Dec 8 Reuters British consumer spending picked up in early December, in line with usual seasonal trends as people spent more in the runup to Christmas, despite a surging cost of living, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

Credit and debit card spending in the week to Dec. 1 which included 39;Black Friday39; sales promotions was 13 percentage points higher than a week earlier, according to interbank payments data, which the Bank of England provides to the ONS.

However, spending was flat compared with a year earlier reflecting a sharp realterms decline given the high rate of inflation, which hit a 41year high of 11.1 in October.

Compared with a year ago, spending on commuting and other workrelated expenses was up by 16 percentage points and spending on socialising was 5 percentage points higher, but spending on discretionary items such as clothing and furniture was down by 10 percentage points.

The BoE data contrasts with debit card transaction data from card provider Revolut, also published by the ONS on Thursday, which showed a 17 percentage point yearonyear rise in spending and a 4 percentage point increase in the week to Dec. 4.

The weekly increase in the Revolut data was driven by a 13point rise in entertainment spending.

Consumer behaviour indicators mostly showed increased activity in the latest week, in line with expected preChristmas trends, the ONS said.

Britain39;s most recent official retail sales data which unlike the…