In April, UK retail sales rebounded from only sluggish growth in March. On a monthly basis, retail sales jumped by 1.1% M/M, while the consensus was looking for a slightly slower growth pace. The details show that the rebound was led by textile, clothing & footwear (3.2% M/M), food stores (2.2% M/M) and household goods stores (1.5% M/M). There were three unusual reasons behind the strong figures namely that it was the warmest April since records started, the royal wedding and the special bank holiday for the royal wedding. Another interesting factor, prices of goods sold within the retail sector are estimated to have risen by 3.7% since April 2010. It is a strong figure, but probably mainly due to special factors and therefore we won’t take strong conclusions from it.