September retail sales were 1.3% higher than August spending in the UK. This was not the case for the comparable data for September 2014, but the ONS said seasonal adjustments would remove the effect of the inclusion.
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‘However, even accounting for that, the scale of September’s rebound was surprising’.
Although with the tournament only running for two weeks of the sales period, it is unlikely that this accounted for more than a small part of the increase.
For the third quarter as a whole, retail sales rose by 0.9 per cent, up from 0.8 per cent growth in the second quarter, and offering a few hope that consumer spending supported Britain’s economy as a whole over a period when export demand faltered.
Ian Gilmartin, head of retail and wholesale at Barclays (LSE: BARC.L – news), said: “September’s ONS retail statistics show that it was a really impressive month for retailers, accelerating August’s strong numbers”.
Food and drink sales rose by 2.3 percent on the month, the biggest rise since April 2014.
Canadian retail sales rose faster than economists predicted in August, led by automobile and parts dealers.
This difference is largely due to a 3.6% fall in retail prices excluding petrol.
Beck said the “sugar rush” from very low inflation will start to wane as petrol and food prices stabilise. “It will be interesting to see how the upcoming Cyber Monday and Black Friday events will affect Retail Sales as we head towards the end of the year”.
Economists believe that GDP figures released on Tuesday will show that GDP rose by 0.7pc in the third quarter of the year.
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Chris Towner, chief economist at HiFX, said: “This time of year is famous for beer festivals and it looks like the biggest festival this year has been in the United Kingdom in celebration of rugby”.
