“Average store prices (including petrol stations) fell by 2.0% in July 2016 compared with July 2015”, the ONS said, adding that, compared with June 2016, there was a fall of 0.8%.
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The Bank cut interest rates earlier this month from 0.5% to 0.25% as part of measures to boost the economy and has indicated that it could reduce the base rate further if required.
Economists had been expecting a 0.3% rise in monthly sales.
The number of unemployed fell by 52,000 to 1.641m, while the number of people in work rose by 172,000 to 31.750m and pushing the employment rate at 74.5%, a latest record high.
Commenting on the latest employment figures, Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “This latest fall in unemployment and rise in employment spell good news for the Scottish economy”.
LONDON-The number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in the United Kingdom fell in July, a sign that the labor market held up well in the immediate aftermath of the country’s vote to leave the European Union.
Compared to July 2015, sales volumes in United Kingdom outlets were up by 5.9 per cent, with every single sector experiencing a bounce in activity.
It comes after retail sales suffered their sharpest fall in six months in June, contracting by 0.9% from a month earlier, though the Office for National Statistics said poor weather rather than Brexit was to blame.
The weak pound is likely to have played a role in boosting sales, drawing tourists to the United Kingdom to buy luxury items like jewellery and watches, said Howard Archer, the chief United Kingdom and European economist for IHS Global Insight.
Its UK labour market: August 2016 report also found that for June 2016, average regular pay, excluding bonuses, was £472 a week before tax and pay deductions.
Much of the ONS data covered the labour market in the run-up to the referendum.
Sales volumes rose in all major categories, although the 3.5% leap in clothing sales was something of a rebound from weakness in a very wet June.
General Secretary of the TUC Frances O’Grady said:”Today’s jobs figures, mostly from before the vote to leave the European Union, are good news for workers across the UK”.
Unemployment in the United Kingdom remained unchanged in the three months to June, according to the latest official data published on Wednesday, marking the last employment measurement before the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) on June 23.
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Internet sales rose by 16.7 per cent year on year, and now account for 14.2 per cent of all retail spending.
