Retail sales up 9% in January

January saw further strong growth in the volume of consumer spending, cementing forecasts for growth in retail sales of up to 8% this year.

Fresh CSO figures, published yesterday, showed an 8.8% annualised jump in spending for last month and a 3.3% rise — boosted by car and furniture purchases, in the main — on a monthly basis. The figures follow on from a 5.1% year-on-year jump in December.

“Headline retail sales were up 6.4% in volume terms on average last year, while sales excluding cars were 3.7% higher in 2014,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist with Merrion Stockbrokers.