British retail sales rebounded as expected in December by 0.6% compared with a fall of 0.5% in November, the Office for National Statistics said today.
Analysts' consensus forecast had been for a rise of 0.7%, while the ONS revised downward November's level after an initial reading of -0.4%.
The ONS added that retail sales jumped by 2.6% in December compared with the same month in 2010, helped by record sales of clothing and footwear and amid heavy discounting by stores and mild winter weather before Christmas.
Analysts had estimated an annual rise of 2.5%.
