Slump in quarterly shop sales

Retail sales saw their biggest slump in almost seven years in the last quarter.

Official ONS figures show monthon-month retail sales jumped by 1.4% in February, exceeding predictions.

But the rise was not enough to offset two consecutive months of decline in December and January.

Across the three months to February, sales volumes were down by 1.4%.

It represented the largest decrease since March 2010 and only the second fall since December 2013.

The drop came as petrol station prices leapt 18.7% year-on-year, helping to push average store prices, including fuel, 2.8% higher – the largest growth since March 2012.

Online sales rose 20.7% year-onyear and by 3.3% on the month, accounting for 15.3% of spend.

ONS senior statistician Kate Davies said: “February’s retail sales figures show fairly strong growth, though the underlying three-month picture shows falling sales as February’s figures follow two consecutive months of decline in December and January.

“The underlying trend suggests that rising petrol prices in particular have had a negative effect on the overall quantity of goods bought over the last three months.”