28/03/2014

Retail Sales Bounce Back A 1.7% Rise In February

Retail sales increased more than expected in February according the official figures recuperating their sales volumes until nearly 1.7% last month after the post-Christmas slump when it felt a 2%.

In fact, February sales were 3.7% higher than a year earlier, according the Office for National Statistics numbers much more that the retail sales expected by economists who had talked about only 0.5% more on February and 2.5% on the year.

Furthermore retail prices fell for the first time in four years down 0.2% on a year ago, helped by a 4.4% fall in fuel prices.

Numbers are shown only two days after inflation was shown to have fallen to 1.7%, the lowest level since October 2009.

Online sales also increased with sales volumes a 1.6% higher in the three months to the end of February compared with the previous quarter.

On Tuesday a report form the Confederation of British Industry showed February retail sales grew slowly since November.

(CVS)

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