finsmart-news_admin
7
United Kingdom: Retail sales fall at sharpest pace since December 2023 in May
Latest reading: Retail sales fell 2.7% month-on-month in seasonally adjusted terms in May (April: +1.3% mom). The outturn marked the worst reading since December 2023 and was a far sharper fall than markets expected. A sharp drop in food stores sales drove the downturn. That said, the data is frequently volatile from month to month, meaning the May fall shouldn’t be overinterpreted.
On an annual basis, retail sales fell 1.2% in May (April: +4.9% yoy), the worst result since June 2024. Accordingly, the trend pointed down, with the annual average growth of retail sales coming in at 0.9% in May, down from April’s 1.1% reading.
