May Retail Sales Slow, Clothing Sales.......>

UK DATA: May Retail Sales Slow, Clothing Sales Decline

-UK May total sales -0.5% m/m, +2.3% y/y

-UK May sales ex fuel -0.3% m/m, +2.2 y/y

-UK May Total, ex-fuel sales lowest y/y since June 2016

-UK April retail sales see modest downward revisions

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UK retail sales fell again in May, with the annual reading of both total 

and ex-fuel sales falling to the lowest level since June 2016, with both 

coming in slightly lower than the MNI median forecast. Total retail 

sales fell 0.5% on the month, with year-on-year sales higher by 2.3%. 

April total sales were revised to show a fall of 0.1% m/m, down from the 

no change reported a month ago. That means sales need to rise 3.1% in 

June to leave the contribution to Q2 GDP unchanged from that seen in Q1. 

Clothing sales led the decline, falling 4.5% over April. Internet sales 

stood at 19.3% of ex-fuel sales for the 3rd month. Excluding fuel, sales 

volumes fell by 0.3% between April and May, rising by 2.2% over May '18.