Retailers benefited from a late Easter this year to end three months of sales declines, according to new data.
Latest retail figures from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) show a 2% balance of shop owners believe their sales are up over a year ago. Some 38% of retailers said that volumes are up, while 36% said they are down.
The balance of sales growth has not been in positive territory since February 2005 and was last flat in December, the CBI said, crediting the late Easter holiday to April’s growth.
However, the pressure group cautioned that the figures need to be kept in perspective.
“April’s survey could be interpreted as an early sign of a mild revival on the high street. But let’s not jump the gun,” said John Longworth, chairman of the CBI’s distributive trades survey panel.
“The economy as a whole is still working below capacity and recent improvements in the manufacturing sector have not been led by demand for consumer goods.
“We will have to wait and see whether this summer’s World Cup yields the anticipated boost in sales and wait for signs of sustained ‘recovery’ to be confirmed. By the standards of recent years, the retail sector is still fairly depressed.”
By sector, hardware and DIY retailers posted their first positive growth since Christmas 2004, while sales in clothes also rebounded with the turn toward warmer weather.
Stationers and booksellers, meanwhile, recorded their first month of sales growth following 10 straight months of decline, according to the survey.
