British shoppers bought much more than expected in May as the country gradually relaxed its coronavirus lockdown and online retailers boomed, adding to signs that the economy is moving away from its historic crash in March and April.
Sales volumes in May jumped by a record 12 percent after an unprecedented 18 percent slump in April.
The rise was at the top end of economists’ forecasts in a Reuters poll but still left sales 13.1 percent down on a year ago.
Most shops in England remained closed until June 15, suggesting a further increase is likely this month.
Consumer confidence in June was the strongest since the lockdown began but remained weak, a separate survey showed.
“May’s recovery in retail sales should not be interpreted as a sign that the economy is embarking on a healthy V-shaped recovery from COVID-19,” Samuel Tombs, an economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said.
Household incomes would take a hit when a government support scheme covering 9 million jobs is wound up in October, he said.
Britain closed non-essential retailers in late March and only a small number such as garden centres reopened in May.
Sales at non-food stores increased by 24 percent in May, but were still 42 percent down on a year earlier, with clothes stores the hardest-hit category, down by more than 60 percent. Fuel sales jumped by 49 percent as people in England got back in their cars.
Online sales rose to a third of all spending, a new record.
Food stores showed a slight decline in volume sales at negative 0.3 percent in May, but levels remain high from the spike in sales in March.
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