UK Retail Sales (Feb) - 24/03 – January retail sales provided a welcome tonic, having expected to see another decline, we saw a 0.5% gain, although the downward revisions to December numbers took some of the gloss off. Nonetheless, it was a welcome respite after a gloomy end to 2022, as falling energy prices helped to see a modest improvement in consumer confidence.
We've also started to see a rebound in some key sectors of the UK economy, services especially which saw a strong rebound in February, having been in contraction since September last year, posting their best monthly performance since April last year.
Could we see a further gain in February after the rebound seen in January? It's entirely possible given that the latest CBI retail sales numbers, and BRC retail sales numbers showed a surprise gain in February after a dire January. This improvement appeared to be driven by some Valentine's Day effects with food sales seeing a solid gain.
