Retail News…

 

Strong retail sales, along with consumer confidence and salary growth will add today to concerns that interest rates may have to rise beyond the expected quarter-point increase.

 

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) are reporting that sales on the high street enjoyed a healthy April.

 

Consumers for clothing and footwear have set tills ringing through the warm weather period, which has also boosted sales in gardening and DIY supplies.

 

Its measure of like-for-like sales rose by 2.4 per cent in April compared with a year ago. Although that was lower than March’s figure of 3.9 per cent, the BRC said that the figures stacked up well against the very strong Easter sales of April last year.

 

Data from Nationwide Building Society added to the picture of a consumer recovery in full swing. The building society said that consumer confidence rose in April for the fourth successive month.

 

The BRC’s report out today shows that total sales were up by 4.7 per cent in the year to April, compared with 6.2 per cent the previous month.

 

Sales growth in clothing stores was the strongest since last October, the report says. Womenswear enjoyed particularly good gains, with dresses, jeans, vests, casual tops and trousers all doing well. Footwear also enjoyed its best increase in sales for nearly three years.

 

However, department stores had a slower month, and furniture and home accessories saw the pace of activity decline.

 

By Martin Huckle