The World Cup and the summer heatwave kept British shoppers away from the high street last month, despite encouraging stronger sales of food, drink and barbecues across the country.
Revealing a surprise fall in retail sales in June, the Office for National Statistics said clothing stores and other non-food retailers suffered from reduced footfall amid the hot weather and football celebrations.
The volume of goods sold across the whole of the retail industry dropped by 0.5% last month compared with May, missing City expectations for a rise of 0.2%. Sales at foods stores edged up 0.1% over the month.
The latest snapshot from the ONS will add further pressure on the Bank of England to delay an expected rise in interest rates next month after weaker readings for growth in workers’ pay and inflation, which unexpectedly stayed at a one-year low in June.
The surprise fall in retail sales triggered a sell-off of the pound, which fell against the dollar to a 10-month low of just below $1.30.
Although some of the decline in consumer spending had been anticipated after two strong months for retail sales in April and May when the royal wedding encouraged shoppers to spend, economists were surprised by the scale of retreat. Overall, sales in the second quarter of the year were the strongest since 2004, helped by the stronger spending in April and May.
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