U.K. Retail Sales Flat in April
May 24 2019 - 5:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Jason Douglas
LONDON--British retail sales were flat in April after several
months of strong growth, as shoppers stayed away from the high
street and instead sought out bargains online.
Still, the figures were better than economists polled by The
Wall Street Journal were expecting, reinforcing expectations that
consumers will continue to power the U.K. economy during 2019 as
uncertainty over the country's departure from the European Union
crimps business spending.
Retail sales in April were flat compared with March, and 5.2%
higher than a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said
Friday. Sales of clothing and footwear, especially online, helped
offset a slide in sales at department and food stores.
Sales in the three months through April, a measure that smoothes
out monthly fluctuations, were 1.8% higher than the previous
three-month period, data showed.
British households, buoyed by low unemployment, cooling
inflation and rising wages, have kept the U.K. economy growing at a
steady if unspectacular pace in recent years, defying predictions
that Brexit would bring growth shuddering to a halt.
Write to Jason Douglas at Jason.Douglas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 24, 2019 04:46 ET (08:46 GMT)
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