"While the month of March certainly provided a nice boost for retailers it's not really an indication of a broader recovery"
- Natalie Berg, a retail analyst with Planet Retail
U.K. month on month retail sales rose more than economists forecast in March, said the Office for National Statistics on Friday. Total retail sales rose 1.8 per cent from February, when they declined 0.8 per cent.
"There may be signs the consumer is returning to life," said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG in London.
"In a wider context, it's added a bit more to consumption in the first quarter and therefore boosted the GDP number slightly. I think it'll be sufficient to avoid a negative number."
"Wage growth is at just 1.4%, so we are still seeing the ongoing erosion of spending power among consumers," said Natalie Berg, a retail analyst with Planet Retail.
"While the month of March certainly provided a nice boost for retailers it's not really an indication of a broader recovery," she said.
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