Retail gross sales grew 0.7% final month beating expectations, newest official knowledge signifies.
It follows an increase of 0.1% in May, a determine which the Office for National Statistics had revised down from 0.3%.
Experts had forecast an increase of 0.2% in June, in response to a mean equipped by Pantheon Macroeconomics.
The enhance got here throughout the board, with many of the important retail sectors other than petrol and diesel sellers seeing their gross sales rise.
Department shops and furnishings sellers stated that gross sales had risen as a result of extra summer time gross sales in the course of the hotter climate.
Food shops, which had seen a 0.4% drop in May, bounced again to rise 0.7% in June, the ONS stated.
The figures measure the quantity purchased – quantity – moderately than the quantity spent – worth.
ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner stated: “Retail sales grew strongly, with food sales bouncing back from the effects of the extra bank holiday, partly helped by good weather, and department stores and furniture shops also having a strong month.
“However, these had been partially offset by falls in gas, backyard centres and garments outlets.
“Growth still fell on an annual basis, but at its slowest rate since the beginning of the Ukraine war.”
Helen Dickinson, chief government of the British Retail Consortium, stated: “June’s sunshine gave retail sales growth a boost as customers readied themselves for the summer season, with products in areas such as fashion, skincare and books performing particularly well.
“Nonetheless, client confidence stays fragile, and with households feeling the pinch from excessive inflation and rising rates of interest they held again on making large ticket purchases, particularly in areas corresponding to electricals.
“Retailers are hopeful that consumer confidence will improve over the coming months as inflation eases.
“Falling inflation charges are a transparent signal that competitors is bringing down costs wherever price pressures ease.”
But she added: “While retailers are doing their bit, authorities has a task to play in bringing inflation down.
“The costly reforms to the packaging levy and a new deposit return scheme could together add £4bn in costs to retailers, putting renewed pressure on prices.
“Government ought to rethink the timelines for these interventions with the intention to not make the present difficult surroundings much more difficult for households and companies.”
Aled Patchett, head of retail and consumer goods at Lloyds Bank, said: “An increase in gross sales is to some extent not shocking with file temperatures spurring shoppers to spend on summer time clothes and outside items.
“A combination of continued hikes in interest rates and the high cost of living is making shoppers less willing to spend on discretionary goods.
“That stated, a downturn in vitality utilization all through the summer time months may present reduction for households, liberating up some disposable earnings.”
Source: information.sky.com”