LONDON (Reuters) – British retail sales unexpectedly rose by 0.3% in May from April, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that sales volumes would fall by 0.2% on the month.
Retail sales volumes in May were 2.1% lower than a year earlier.
The Reuters poll had pointed to a fall of 2.6% in sales volumes on an annual basis.
Britain’s persistently high inflation has hit household spending power. The pace of price growth held at 8.7% in May according to data published earlier this week, defying forecasts for a slowdown.
The Bank of England on Thursday raised interest rates for the 13th time in a row to 5.0%, their highest since 2008.
(Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by William James)
