High street’s sales rise provides cold comfort

Retail sales rose last month, reversing a dismal start to the year when January’s icy weather kept shoppers at home, but they still fell short of raising hopes for an impending recovery on the high street.

The value of like-for-like sales rose at an annual rate of 2.2 per cent in February, after falling by 0.7 per cent in January, figures from the British Retail Consortium showed. It said that the figures had been flattered by poor trading in February last year, when wintry conditions hit retailers hard.

Stephen Robertson, the BRC’s director-general, said: “Despite appearances, these results are not that strong. When the weather- related distortions are stripped away, it’s clear that customers are still cautious.”

Clothes and shoe stores’ sales rose during last month as the continuing cold snap prompted shoppers to seek out warm winter coats, scarves and boots.

Valentine’s Day helped jewellery sales, but sales of Valentine’s Day chocolates were not enough to curb the slowdown in the growth of food sales as households used up food stockpiled during January’s cold snap. The BRC said that food sales had risen at the slowest pace since July 2007.

Meanwhile, a separate report suggested that the risk of a “jobless recovery” was mounting as employers showed little sign of hiring more staff despite the nascent recovery in the economy. Unemployment has climbed by nearly a million to close to 2.5 million since the start of the recession, official figures show.

Only 8 per cent of companies are planning to hire more workers between April and June, a report from Manpower shows, while 7 per cent are planning to cut jobs. The resulting balance of 1 is up from -1 in the first quarter of the year, but does not suggest a convincing recovery in the labour market.

Despite widespread pledges to cut the size of the public sector, hiring intentions among public sector organisations remained positive, Manpower said.

Gráinne Gilmore, The Times 09-03-2010