The Office for National Statistics released the following seasonally adjusted data on British retail sales on Wednesday. All figures are percentage changes unless otherwise stated.

(Numbers in brackets show originally reported values) RETAIL SALES VOLUME APRIL MARCH FORECAST Monthly s/adj change -1.3* -0.6 (-0.7) UNCH Year-on-year change 0.5 -0.5 (-0.5) 2.0 3mth/3mth 0.7 0.4 (0.4) Sales excl. fuel mm -1.4 -0.7 (-0.8) 0.1 Sales excl. fuel yy 0.2 0.4 (0.4) 1.7 BY SECTOR m/m y/y 3m/3m Predominantly food -4.1** -3.8 -0.3 Total pred non-food 1.9 2.1 0.5 Non-specialised 2.0 2.5 -0.2 Textile,clothing,foot 0.8 1.2 -0.6 Household goods 3.8 -3.8 -1.8 Other stores 1.6 6.7 3.6 Non-store/repair -5.5 14.0 7.9 Automotive fuel -0.6 3.1 1.0

APR MAR Value pct change from year ago 1.3 0.1 (0.1) Value pct change 3mths vs year ago 1.2 0.8 (0.8) Deflator (nsa) pct change from yr ago 0.6 0.7 (0.6)

* Biggest monthly drop in all retailing since April 2012