Retail Sales Jump in June as the Warm Weather Lifts Spending
British retail sales rose by 1 per cent in June, official figures showed on Friday, comfortably beating forecasts as the second-warmest June on record drew shoppers out and summer promotions lifted demand. The Office for National Statistics said sales volumes were 4.2 per cent higher than a year earlier, led by clothing and online retailers. It is a rare piece of good economic news for Andy Burnham’s government amid the oil-price squeeze.
The ONS said clothing stores enjoyed their strongest month since September, while non-store retailers were lifted by sales of fans and outdoor goods during the heat. Sales volumes across the second quarter were up 0.6 per cent on the first, pointing to steady if unspectacular growth. The figures hand the Prime Minister a modest boost as he presses his cost-of-living agenda, though economists caution that the rebound owes much to weather that also fanned drought and wildfire warnings. Watch whether the momentum survives an autumn of rising fuel costs.