Though retailers in the UK have reported a boost in spending from Mother’s Day purchases in March, clothing spending declined 3.4 per cent than a year earlier.
Mother’s Day was marked in UK on 19th March this year.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) in a report said that its members – mostly large chain stores and supermarkets – reported a 5.1 per cent year-on-year increase in retail spending in March, down a shade from annual growth of 5.2 per cent in February.
Spending on utilities was 39 per cent higher than a year earlier – reflecting higher energy prices and a cold March – while spending at restaurants dropped by 5.6 per cent, home improvements fell 6.6 per cent and the biggest drop in six months.
It is worth mentioning here that its more than a year that British consumers have been pressured by high inflation which has outstripped pay growth for almost all workers.
Last month government forecasters estimated households were in the midst of the biggest two-year squeeze in living standards since comparable records started in the 1950s.
