24.05.201904:55:00UTC+00UK Retail Sales Remain Flat In April

UK retail sales remained flat in April, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday.

Retail sales volume remained unchanged on month, after rising 1.2 percent in March. Nonetheless, sales were forecast to drop 0.3 percent.

At the same time, sales excluding auto fuel, dropped 0.2 percent, in contrast to March's 1.4 percent increase. Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent fall.

On a yearly basis, retail sales including auto fuel, increased 5.2 percent after expanding 6.7 percent a month ago. This was also bigger than the forecast of 4.5 percent.

Meanwhile, excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth eased to 4.9 percent from 6.3 percent. Economists had expected sales to grow 4.3 percent.