Retail Sales grow in January

According to a fresh survey the British retail sales rose in January for the first time since last May, but the increase was driven by food sales and heavy price cutting.

 The British
Retail Consortium said the value of like-for-like retail sales rose
1.1 percent in January compared with a year ago, the first increase
in sales values since May 2008. The BRC said the increase was driven
by a 5.1 percent rise in food sales in January and partly reflected
higher food prices. Heavy discounting by retailers helped to slow the
pace of decline in non-food sales to 1.6 percent from a fall of 7.9
percent in December.
The BRC said total sales, which include new
floorspace rose by 3.2 percent, the first rise since September and
the strongest increase since last May, when warm weather boosted
sales.