Retail Sales Show Resilience in Face of High Prices, Low Confidence

UK Retail Sales Show Resilience in Face of High Prices, Low Confidence

0835 GMT - The unexpectedly strong rise in U.K. retail sales in April suggests the cost of living crisis hasn't caused consumer spending to collapse and means the economy may have a little more momentum than previously thought, Nicholas Farr, assistant economist at Capital Economics, says in a research note. The 1.4% on-month rise in retail sales volumes in April was the first rise in three months and strength in sales was broad-based, the economist notes. "It may take some time for the cost of living crisis to fully filter through into weakness in retail sales," Farr says. Even so, the signs of resilience in the retail sales data are encouraging, and Farr says low confidence won't weigh on spending as much as in the past. ([e-mail])

 
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Contact: London NewsPlus; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-20-22 0451ET