UK DATA: Jan retail sales inc. fuel +1.9% m/m; +5.3% y/y
–Jan retail sales ex fuel +1.6% m/m; +5.3% y/y
–Dec retail sales inc. fuel revised down to -1.4% m/m; -0.7% y/y
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Jan retail sales volumes rocketed 1.9% on the month in Jan to stand
5.3% above levels a year earlier, way above the median for a 0.5% m/m
rise and 4.1% y/y. The m/m gain was the largest since Feb 2010. There
was, however, a large downward revision to Dec which now shows a fall of
1.4% on the month compared with the initial -0.8% estimate meaning sales
were up 0.5% over the past 2 months. The bounceback in Jan was mainly
seen in non-food with sharp gains in department store, clothing and
household good stores. While the revision to Dec will only have a
marginal downward impact on Q4 GDP the Jan data add to other survey data
which suggests Q1 GDP bounced back strongly from the Q4 downturn.