By Ed Frankl
U.K. retail sales rebounded more than expected on month in April, recovering from a rain-hit March that affected non-food sales, with easing energy prices also lifting some of the pressure on household spending.
Retail-sales volumes ticked up 0.5% on month, compared with a downwardly revised fall of 1.2% in March, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday.
The figure is a little stronger than the 0.3% rise expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
Sales volumes rose 0.8% in the three months to April compared with the previous three months, the highest rate since August 2021, the ONS said.
Non-food stores’ sales volumes rose by 1.0% in April, rebounding as poor weather conditions throughout March affected trading, the ONS said.
Sales volumes at food stores rose by 0.7% on month, following a fall of 0.8% in March, suggesting some cost-of-living pressures could be lifting. However, food sales were still 2.7% below their precoronavirus levels in February 2020, according to the ONS.
High inflation is still expected to take a toll on consumers. Overall inflation was 8.7% in April, easing from March but nevertheless driven by food inflation at 19.3%.
Meanwhile, fuel sales dipped by 2.2% in April, the ONS said, affected by strikes, which restricted travel in the month.
Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com
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This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
