- Prior +1.2%
- Retail sales -3.1% vs -3.1% y/y expected
- Prior -3.5%
- Retail sales (ex autos, fuel) -1.0% vs -0.7% m/m expected
- Prior +1.5%
- Retail sales (ex autos, fuel) -3.2% vs -3.1% y/y expected
- Prior -3.3%
That's another dampener in terms of UK consumption activity and with high inflation pressures still squeezing households, it's hard to see things improving all too much in the months ahead. Looking at the details, non-food stores sales volumes fell by 1.3% with food store sales volumes declining by 0.7% on the month. Meanwhile, non-store retailing i.e. mostly online sales was also down by 0.8% in March.
With the BOE being pressured to tighten policy further, the risk is that it will see a tighter crunch on consumers and that risks a more significant downturn later in the year. This is quite a glaring chart to show how inflation is making an impact on the everyday UK consumer:
