United Kingdom: Retail sales bounce back in January
Retail sales grew 3.4% in month-on-month seasonally adjusted terms in January, which contrasted December’s 3.3% decrease. The result marked the best reading since April 2021 and was more than twice as high as markets were expecting. Sales rose in all subsectors except clothing stores, with food stores contributing most to the month-on-month increase.
On an annual basis, retail sales increased 0.7% in January, rebounding from December’s 2.4% fall and marked the best result since March 2022. Moreover, the trend improved, with the annual average variation of retail sales coming in at minus 2.3% in January, up from December’s minus 2.7% reading.