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U.K. Retail Sales Rebound 12% in May as Lockdown Starts to Lift

U.K. Retail Sales Rebound 12% in May as Lockdown Starts to Lift

U.K. retail sales started to recover last month from their precipitous drop during the coronavirus lockdown.

Sales including auto fuel gained 12% in May from April, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Sales excluding fuel rebounded 10.2%. Household goods stores saw a 42% jump.

U.K. Retail Sales Rebound 12% in May as Lockdown Starts to Lift

The nation is slowly starting to emerge from restrictions on movement to contain the virus, and non-essential stores are now opening up. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging Britons to go out and spend after the economy lost 20% of output in April alone.

Consumer confidence picked up in June, though it remains far below pre-pandemic levels, GfK said in a separate report Friday. Retail sales are still 13% below their level in February before the impact of the virus.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.