July retail sales up

Thursday, 21 August 2008 12:00

Data out today show July sales were up 0.8 per cent, while they rose 3.9 per cent on a year ago.

Figures from the Office from National Statistics (ONS) show sales at food stores rose by just 0.1 per cent, but in non-food stores they were up 1.2 per cent over the three months to July, as retailers managed to keep shoppers despite price rises.

July retail sales rose 0.7 per cent over the previous three months.

The main message from the ONS is the "underlying growth in retail sales volumes remain positive".

The largely stable July figures compare to a 3.6 per cent surge in May and a drop of 3.9 per cent in June.

However, British Retail Consortium (BRC) claims the official retail sales figures paint a more positive picture than most retailers would recognise.

Stephen Robertson, BRC director general, said: "Few retailers will recognise this positive picture. These ONS figures suggest July's total sales values were up 3.8 per cent on a year ago, well above the miserly 1.7 per cent shown by the BRC's figures.

"There is no evidence that fundamental conditions are improving for customers or retail businesses. Consumer confidence remains low, unemployment is rising and the housing market weakening. It's hard to see what could produce the sales-growth boost ONS are reporting or their finding that smaller retailers are outperforming larger ones.

He added: "We respect the ONS's process but this report doesn't seem to reflect the current retail reality."

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