British retail sales declined unexpectedly in May for the first time in four months, just a day after the Bank of England said it saw indications of stronger consumer activity. The volume of retail sales in the UK slipped 0.1pc in May from April and was up 3.1pc from a year earlier, National Statistics (NS) said. Analysts had expected sales to rise 0.2pc on the month. At its policy meeting earlier this month, the Bank of England's monetary policy committee said consumption growth in the UK were "perhaps slowing less rapidly than projected".
It also said that some of the downside risks to the economy highlighted in the May Inflation Report "seemed to have diminished". The decline in May was led by slower sales of clothing and footwear, which slipped 0.2pc, and by sales at food and grocery stores, which fell by almost 0.25pc. Over the three months to May, NS said retail sales growth "remains slow". Sales grew by 0.5pc in the period compared with the previous three months, and by 3.4pc from a year earlier. "These growth rates are similar to those reported for April, but lower than those reported for most of the last three years," NS said. //www.fxcentre.com