(Bloomberg) -- U.K. retail sales started to recover last month from their precipitous drop during the coronavirus lockdown.
Sales including auto fuel gained 12% in May from April, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Sales excluding fuel rebounded 10.2%. Household goods stores saw a 42% jump.
The nation is slowly starting to emerge from restrictions on movement to contain the virus, and non-essential stores are now opening up. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging Britons to go out and spend after the economy lost 20% of output in April alone.
Consumer confidence picked up in June, though it remains far below pre-pandemic levels, GfK said in a separate report Friday. Retail sales are still 13% below their level in February before the impact of the virus.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
