The Jubilee celebrations were a damp squib for retailers as High Street sales fell well short of hopes despite desperate price slashing, official figures showed today.
Sales volumes grew a meagre 0.1% during June, well below City expectations, as the record downpours kept shoppers away, according to the Office for National Statistics. The Jubilee holiday “appears not to have had a significant impact on retail sales”, the ONS said.
The breakdown of the figures showed food sales down 0.7% over the month as the rain forced households to leave the barbecues rusting in the shed. Clothing and footwear fared strongest, up 2.5%, as retailers cut prices to open consumer wallets. The ONS’s sales deflator, which shows how much retail prices have risen in the past year, slowed to 0.3% in June, down from 1.2% in May.
Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said: “Many had hoped that the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was going to boost sales, and a recent survey by the CBI suggested sales had indeed been lifted due to the extra public holidays and spending on the celebrations. However, this appears to not have been the case, or if it did then it was offset by households pulling back on spending elsewhere.”
Sales volumes overall fell 0.7% in the quarter to June, dragging on the economy. IHS Global Insight’s Howard Archer said: “This is another death knell for already low hopes that the economy avoided a third successive quarter of GDP contraction.”
