UK retail sales beat forecasts - ONS

(Sharecast News) - UK retail sales jumped in February, official data showed on Friday, comfortably beating expectations. According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes rose by 1% last month.

That was down on January's revised 1.4% increase, but well ahead of consensus for a 0.3% fall. Sales volumes were also at their highest since July 2022.

Driving the growth were non-food sales, which grew "strongly", the ONS said, and helped offset softer supermarket volumes.

Non-food stores, which include department, clothing and household retailers, rose by 3.1%. Jewellers reported strong demand for gold, in light of mounting geopolitical uncertainty, while household stores saw a 6.8% spike, the largest monthly rise since April 2021.

In contrast, food stores sales volumes fell 2% on the month, following a bumper 4.8% rise in January.

Year-on-year, overall retail sales volumes were 2.2% stronger.

In the three months to February, sales volumes rose 0.3% or by 2% year-on-year.

The ONS revised January's figure down to 1.4% from its initial estimate of 1.7% growth.