Retail sales bounce back
Mar 25 2010
Retail sales improve
High street sales rebounded last month following a poor start to the year.
Sales volumes grew by 2.1 per cent in February compared to January, the highest month-on-month increase since May 2008, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. This follows a decline of 2.5 per cent in January from December.
A spokesperson from the Centre for Economics Business and Research, a think tank, says the data indicates that retail sales have recovered well following the reversal of the VAT cut and the cold weather, but growth is likely to remain low this year.
Stephen Robertson, director general at industry body the British Retail Consortium, says: ‘Consumers are certainly more positive than a year ago but job worries, tax increases and uncertainty over what is still to come after the General Election are causing customers to remain cautious.’
Non-food stores sales volumes increased by 3.4 per cent over the month, with household goods stores sales growing by 11.2 per cent, the steepest monthly rise on record. Conversely, food stores saw sales volumes decline by 1.2 per cent in February from January, the lowest growth rate since June 2008.
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