UK retail sales spending has jumped to its highest since August 2023

British Retail Consortium March data lifted the most since August:

• Total sales +3.5%
  year-on-year vs Feb +1.1%
• Like-for-like sales
  +3.2% y/y vs Feb +1.0%
• BRC said total retail spending figures are not seasonally adjusted and reflect
  how Easter Sunday fell on March 31, more than a week earlier
  than in 2023.
  “While retail sales growth improved last month, this was
  largely driven by Easter falling unusually early and the
  subsequent uplift to food sales in the week preceding the long
  weekend,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.

—

Barclays UK March
Consumer Spending

• +1.9% y/y vs Feb
  +1.9%, joint-smallest increase since Sept 2022
• Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said businesses
  hoped demand would improve in the months ahead because of better
  weather, lower energy prices, higher wage growth and events such
  as Taylor Swift concerts and the Olympics.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.