UK retail sales up a higher-than-expected 0.6% in July

British retail sales volumes rose by a higher-than-expected 0.6% in July, leaving them up 1.1% on the year, official figures showed on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.2% monthly rise in sales volumes and a 1.3% increase compared with a year earlier.

The data had originally been due for publication on August 22 but the Office for National Statistics delayed publication for further quality checks. The figures come a week before the release of July gross domestic product data, which economists expect to show a slowdown after unexpectedly strong growth in the first half of the year, partly due to higher government spending.

Last month the British Retail Consortium reported that spending at its members, mostly larger retail chains, had risen by 2.5% in cash terms in July, boosted by higher spending on food and summer clothes during the fifth-hottest July on record. But after higher prices were taken into account, especially for food, this represented a fall in purchase volumes.

Electricals retailer Currys said on Thursday that hot weather had spurred spending on air conditioners and fans, helping lift sales in Britain and Ireland by 3% in the four months to the end of August.

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