British Retail Consortium March data lifted the most since August:
- Total sales +3.5% year-on-year vs Feb +1.1%
- Like-for-like sales +3.2% y/y vs Feb +1.0%
- BRC said total retail spending figures are not seasonally adjusted and reflect how Easter Sunday fell on March 31, more than a week earlier than in 2023. "While retail sales growth improved last month, this was largely driven by Easter falling unusually early and the subsequent uplift to food sales in the week preceding the long weekend," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.
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Barclays UK March Consumer Spending
- +1.9% y/y vs Feb +1.9%, joint-smallest increase since Sept 2022
- Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said businesses hoped demand would improve in the months ahead because of better weather, lower energy prices, higher wage growth and events such as Taylor Swift concerts and the Olympics.
