LONDON (Reuters) – British retailers reported a jump in sales in June as the country’s fast vaccination programme encouraged shoppers to go out and spend, the Confederation of British Industry said on Friday.
The CBI’s measure of the volume of sales rose to +25 from May’s +18, the highest since August 2018, while sales were reported as above seasonal norms – which excludes the effect of last year’s lockdown – were the highest in over four years.
“This was the latest sign that the success of the vaccination programme is feeding through to stronger consumer confidence,” CBI economist Ben Jones said.
The CBI survey also showed stock levels in relation to expected sales sank to their lowest since records began in August 1983 and no improvement was expected next month.
The Bank of England is keeping a close eye on whether bottlenecks in supply caused by the pandemic lead to longer-term inflation pressures.
(Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by Andy Bruce)
