Fine weather encourages UK shoppers to brush off inflation pressure

Retail sales volumes jumped by 2.3% in the month of April

British shoppers set aside their concerns about fast-rising inflation following the Brexit vote and stepped up spending last month at the fastest rate in years, encouraged by fine weather, official data showed.

Retail sales volumes jumped by 2.3 per cent in the month of April, as reported by the Office for National Statistics(ONS) on Thursday.

The robust data contrasts with a generally downbeat tone so far this year, as a pick-up in inflation triggered by the fall in the pound after last year's Brexit vote ate into households' disposable income.

The rebound followed a sharp 1.4 per cent fall in March that capped the weakest calendar quarter since 2010.

Looking at the value of retail spending - which adds in the extra amount shoppers spend because of higher inflation - sales in the three months to April were up 6.2 per cent on a year earlier, the biggest rise in 15 years.

Sterling rose almost half a cent against the US dollar after the data, rising above $1.30 for the first time in almost eight months, and British government bond yields fell to a one-month low.

The ONS said retailers reported that fine weather had boosted demand. An official said it was too soon to tell if inflation pressures would weigh on consumers again quickly.

Retail sales volumes were 4.0 perc ent higher than a year earlier after 2.0 per cent annual growth in March.

The ONS said the figures were seasonally adjusted to take account of the timing of Easter, but many economists doubted the adjustment was sufficient.

The strong retail sales tally with figures from the Confederation of British Industry, which said retailers reported rapid sales growth during the first part of April.

But British retailers have reported mixed fortunes. Earlier this month Next, Britain's most successful clothing chain in recent years, lowered its annual profit forecast, counting the cost of tough trading conditions and self-inflicted problems with its product ranges.

Official figures on Wednesday showed that average wages in Britain are now rising by less than inflation for the first time since 2014.

The Bank of England expects a shortfall in consumer demand this year which will be mostly offset by stronger exports and business investment. Many private-sector forecasters are more doubtful and see a bigger slowdown this year and next.