Britain’s retail sales disappoint in sign of lackluster recovery

Retail sales grew 1.9% in the first quarter, meaning the sector contributed 0.09 percentage point GDP during the period

While wages are rising rapidly and the Bank of England is expected to reduce interest rates, those forces have yet to fully feed through to people’s finances.

UK retail sales stalled unexpectedly in March after shoppers scaled back spending on food and at department stories.

The volume of goods sold in stores and online was unchanged in March after a revised 0.1% gain the month before, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. Economists had expected a 0.3% increase.