UK: Retail Sales surprised on the upside in February

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - National Statistics informed on Thursday that year-over-year UK Retail Sales jumped 2.6% in February, compared with the 0.5% drop in January and considerably above forecasts of +0.5%. On a monthly basis UK Retail Sales rose 2.1% in February, after sliding 0.7% in January and above expectations of growing 0.5%.

Annual Retail Sales excluding Fuel increased 3.3%, up from the 0.5% rise and above market consensus of 1.2% growth. Month-over-month Retail Sales excluding Fuel edged up 1.9%, following a 0.4% decrease and exceeding expectations of +0.5%.