Consumer spending grows at fastest rate in seven years

Consumer spending volumes grew by over 6% during the first half of 2014 — the fastest rate for seven years — fuelling expectations of a jump of between 1% and 2% for the full year.

Commentators yesterday brushed off disappointing monthly retail sales figures, suggesting they masked the truer, more positive, picture.

The new monthly provisional CSO data shows that — in terms of volume — retail sales fell by 1.7% in June, compared to the previous month; but were up by 3.6% on a year-on-year basis.