Economy
The latest news, updates and analysis on the economy and how it is affecting the UK retail industry. Sign up to the Daily Briefing and let Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Jun- 2025 -20 June
Young adults lift UK consumer confidence despite economic concerns
Consumer confidence in the UK rose modestly in June, buoyed by optimism among younger age groups despite continuing concerns over inflation and global instability, according to new data from GfK. The research firm’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased by two points to -18, with improvements in views of the wider…
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18 June
Inflation eases to 3.4% in May amid falling air prices
Inflation eased to 3.4% in May 2025, down from 3.5% in the 12 months to April, as rising food prices were offset by falling air fares, according to the latest figures from the Office for national statistics. However, the fall comes with a caveat: the ONS has since revealed that…
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12 June
Retailers welcome £2bn police boost but urge for more action
Retail trade bodies have welcomed the £2bn funding boost for police forces in England and Wales, but cautioned that the investment alone will not be enough to tackle rising levels of high street crime. It comes as Rachel Reeves announced in yesterday’s Spending Review (11 June) that the police’s spending…
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11 June
Women’s Euros to deliver £593m retail boost, report finds
The Women’s Euro 2025 football tournament is expected to deliver a £593.4m boost to UK retail, according to a new report from VoucherCodes.co.uk. The Women’s UEFA Euro 2025 Spending Report forecasts that the event will contribute £851.6m to the UK economy overall. Around 19.7 million fans are expected to watch…
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10 June
Retail sales rise 1% in May despite low non-essential spending
Total retail sales rose by 1% year-on-year in the four weeks to 31 May, up from 0.7% in the same period last year, despite customers cutting back on non-essential purchases, according to new figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). It comes as consumer confidence had risen in May, supported…
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5 June
Consumer confidence hasn’t recovered since Brexit vote, Barclays finds
Consumer confidence reached its highest point in the past 10 years in September 2016, at 48%, just after the Brexit referendum, according to Barclays’ “10 Years of Spend” report. Barclays has been tracking consumer confidence monthly since 2015 and also surveyed 2000 people in the UK for the report, which…
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May- 2025 -30 May
Lidl, Halfords and The Range repay staff over minimum wage breach
Lidl, Halfords and The Range are among a number of UK companies named and shamed by the Department for Business and Trade for paying some workers less than minimum wage between 2015 and 2022. Lidl failed to pay £286,437.18 to 3,423 workers, Halfords failed to pay £140,829.79 to 4,341 workers…
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29 May
US trade court blocks Trump’s tariff changes
The US Court of International Trade has deemed Donald Trump’s tariff changes “illegal”, which could see the president’s controversial global trade policy get blocked. According to the New York-based trade court, an emergency law initiated by the White House did not grant the president the sole power to levy tariffs…
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27 May
Fresh food prices drive food inflation up 2.8% in May
Food inflation increased to 2.8% year-on-year in May, rising for the fourth consecutive month, driven by a surge in the cost of fresh food, according to the BRC-NIQ Shop Price Index. It found that Fresh Food inflation increased to 2.4%, against growth of 1.8% in April. This is above the…
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23 May
Retail sales beat expectations in April
Retail sales volumes increased 1.2% in April 2025, up from a rise of 0.1% in March 2025, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth and easily beating forecasts of 0.2%. Food store sales increased 3.9%, mostly recovering from falls in February and March 2025. Supermarkets, specialist food stores such as…
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