Retail sales barely grew in July as cash-strapped consumers cut back on spending, underscoring the risks for the UK's already fragile economic recovery. A weakening labour market and rising inflation are expected to continue to restrain consumer spending and, together with signs that key British export markets are slowing, increase the risk that the economy will fail to pick up after nine months of near stagnation. Sales volumes, including automotive fuel sales, grew by just 0.2% last month, and were unchanged from a year ago, data from the Office for National Statistics showed last week. Analysts had forecast a rise of 0.3% both on the month and from a year earlier. The housing market, a creator of wealth for many Britons before the financial crisis, also looks unlikely to help boost consumption any time soon as data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed that gross mortgage lending was 6% lower in July than a year ago. The UK economy grew by only 0.2% in the second quarter and surveys among manufacturers and service firms have indicated a moderate rebound. Britain's car manufacturers, however, are still benefiting from strong exports, and car production rose by 1.3% in July from a year ago, the SMMT industry body said.