UK retail sales rebound way beyond expectations in April
|The office for National Statistics (ONS) published the UK’s retail trade report for the month of April, which showed that the UK consumer spending staged a solid comeback across the time horizon, beating market expectations by a big margin.
The UK’s retail volumes came in at 2.3% in April m/m, while the annualized retail spending surged to 4.0%. Markets had estimated a 1.0% expansion on a monthly basis; while a 2.0% reading was expected on yearly basis.
Retail sales excluding volatile items such as fuel also bounced and bettered expectations, arriving at 2.0% m/m and 4.5% y/y.
Main points
In April 2017, the quantity bought in the retail industry increased by 2.3% compared with March 2017 and by 4.0% compared with April 2016.
The underlying pattern, as measured by the 3 month on 3 month estimate, showed a slight increase in April 2017 following a short period of contraction, increasing by 0.3%.
Anecdotal evidence from retailers suggests that good weather contributed to growth.
Average prices slowed slightly in April 2017, falling from 3.3% in March to 3.1% in April.
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