Retail sales continue to enjoy monthly growth, despite an overall yearly slump hampering sales in particular sub-sectors.
The findings were announced by the Confederation of Business Industry (CBI) in its latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey, in which 124 firms showed a third-successive month of firmly above-average sales growth. Sales growth was the fastest for more than three years over the three-month period of August to October.
However, the growth was not shared amongst all areas of the sector. Hardware and DIY suffered a fall in October, shadowed by a cooling housing market and Homebase’s recent announcement that it is closing stores due to a diminished interest from consumers in home improvement.
The CBI said sales at chemists and at specialist food and drink firms also fell.
The survey suggested that retailers remained upbeat about the month ahead, which contrasts to a report earlier this month from the British Retail Consortium that indicated high street and online stores had put in their weakest performance since the depths of the recession.
Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Director of Economics, said: “Sales on our high streets are still tickling along and, with similar prospects next month, retail growth is looking more stable.
“The clothing sector in particular appears to be bouncing back after the mild weather in September deterred people from buying their winter warmers.”
In its survey, 48% of retailers said sales volumes increased in the year to September, compared to only 17% saying they had fallen.
Commenting on the figures, Howard Archer, economist at HIS Global Insight, said: “Following some recent mixed news on the economy, a very decent October CBI distributive trades survey provides some reassurance that consumers are still prepared to spend at a healthy rate.
“Retailers will be very much hoping that this remains the case as the critical Christmas period looms on the horizon.”
