Department stores saw their biggest jump in sales for more than a year last month as they were forced to slash prices to get rid of stock, official figures showed today.
Sales rose 3% in the month — the biggest gain since March 2012 — driving a 0.2% growth in overall sales volumes for June, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Shoppers helped themselves to clearance items as stores offloaded summer ranges left unsold in the coldest spring for 50 years and snapped up electrical items and household goods. Stores’ internet sales were up more than 35% on a year earlier.
Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said: “Sales are often only being generated by price cuts. However, the improvement in spending follows signs that the financial clouds are starting to lift from households at the same time as the weather has improved.”
Although inflation is still running ahead of wage growth, the buoyant retail signs come alongside a housing-market recovery and rising confidence. Unemployment fell by 57,000 to 2.51 million in the quarter to May, the ONS said.
BNP Paribas UK economist David Tinsley said the retail spending was likely to bolster the wider economy between April and June: “Over the three months to June, the volume of retail sales rose 0.9%, which is worth a GDP contribution of around 0.1 percentage points,” he said.
