Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
British retail sales beat analysts’ expectations of a contraction and remained flat in February, as growth in clothing purchases offset falling food sales.
The quantity of goods bought in Great Britain was unchanged between January and February following a 3.6 per cent increase in the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said.
This was better than the 0.3 per cent drop forecast by economists polled by Reuters, many of whom cited wet weather.
ONS senior statistician Heather Bovill said clothing sales had rebounded after recent falls as people invested in the new season’s collections. But “these were offset by falls in fuel sales, possibly affected by rising prices, and a reduction in food sales”.
Online sales increased, particularly for clothing retailers, as wet weather affected footfall.
Sales volumes fell by 0.4 per cent in the three months to February when compared with the previous three months, and by 1 per cent when compared with the three months to February 2023.