UK retail sales fall by more than expected in February

The volume of UK retail sales fell by more than expected in February, dropping by 0.8% on the previous month. It came as High Street retailer Next warned of very challenging times ahead for retailers and consumers. The Office for National Statistics said the drop in sales had been broad-based, with only car fuel and non-store retailers seeing sales grow. And it revised downwards the figure for January, with the volume of sales increasing by 1.5% rather than 1.9%. On an annual basis the volume of sales was up 1.3% across the year. Analysts had expected a drop of 0.6% on the month and an annual rise of 2.3%... read more

BBC Business News
March 11