As sales beat expectations, is the High Street waking up at last?

Official figures were unexpectedly good and consumer confidence is rising, writes James Moore. With wages outpointing prices, a new government may get a boost from the previously moribund consumer economy

Shoppers returned to the high street in May (PA Wire)

Is the British High Street finally emerging from its extended hibernation? Official figures showed sales volumes – ie the quantity of items bought – were up 2.9 per cent in May after a fall of 1.8 per cent in April.

That figure was comfortably above economists’ expectations (1.5 per cent according to a Reuters poll). More importantly, they also rose by 1 per cent over three months and 1.2 per cent year on year (excluding fuel).

As ever, we need a bit of context before we get ahead of ourselves. The year-on-year figure is the first positive for three months, and the British Retail Consortium pointed out that sales “still remain below their 2021 levels”.