UK retail sales fall despite further softening of curbs
Monday, June 21, 2021
UK retail sales fell in May as people rushed to spend money at restaurants and pubs after limits on coronavirus were lifted, official figures showed on Friday.
Britian's retail sales dropped 1.4 per cent a month in April to May in spite of the further loosening of restrictions at Covid, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced on Friday.
The strongest decline was reported to have been recorded in food sales, down 5.7% as restrictions on hospitality businesses continued to be lifted in order to allow people into.
Despite a drop in monthly retail sales in May, overall retail sales were 9.1 per cent higher than before the coronavirus epidemic broke out in February 2020, the ONS said.
Analysts said the monthly drop did not signal the beginning of a slowdown in the UK's recovery from the biggest economic contraction in more than 300 years.
Bank of England ratings agencies will digest the latest economic news ahead of next week's meeting.