March retail sales were better than expected, showing that the overall and core sales rose 0.2% compared to the previous month, but do not get too happy, not least because during the quarter as a whole, sales grew by only 0.3% compared to last quarter. Much of the growth in March came from the grocery stores, accounting for 0.7% compared to the previous month, and household goods fell a second straight month. Sales data for the period March / April should be treated adequately because of the poor are always seasonal indicators in the period of Easter, which this year comes unusually late. Of course, the results for the retail sector were sluggish in the first quarter of the year and at the moment we can not be sure that the pace of activity in the first quarter will be able to cover the decline in the fourth. We learn more next week after the publication of GDP data on Wednesday. Nevertheless, these data allowed the sterling somewhat restore the balance that was lost after the protocol Monetary Policy Committee.
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