LONDON (Bloomberg) — A UK index of retail sales rose in November to the highest in two years, adding to evidence Britain has escaped the longest recession on record.

Retailers saying sales volumes rose from a year earlier outnumbered those reporting declines by 13 percentage points, the highest balance since November 2007, the Confederation of British Industry said in a statement in London yesterday. The quarterly balance of retailers expecting improvement over the next three months was 13 percent, the highest since May 2004. Data yesterday showed the UK economy shrank less than previously estimated in the third quarter as consumer spending stopped falling. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said this week that the rate of economic growth would be "pretty buoyant" in the short-run.

"It's reassuring that the high street now has a second month of sales growth behind it, and it looks like December will be even better," Andy Clarke, chairman of the CBI distributive trades panel and chief operating officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Asda business, said in the statement.