UK Retail Sales Recover Unexpectedly

(RTTNews) - UK retail sales rebounded unexpectedly in August largely driven by the recovery in non-store retailing, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Friday.

Retail sales grew 0.5 percent on a monthly basis, offsetting July's 0.5 percent fall. Sales were expected to drop 0.2 percent.

Excluding auto fuel, retail sales increased 0.6 percent, reversing a 0.9 percent fall in July. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent decrease for August.

The ONS said non-store retailers partially recovered from falls in July, with lower sales volumes in July attributed to promotions occurring earlier in June. Department stores also picked up in August.

Food store sales grew 0.3 percent and non-food store sales rebounded 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, automotive fuel sales dropped 1.3 percent.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth doubled to 2.4 percent from 1.2 percent in July. This was also stronger than forecast of 1.9 percent. Likewise, sales excluding auto fuel, registered an annual growth of 2.7 percent, following a 1.8 percent rise in the prior month.