UK consumer spending improved in the three months to April, helped by higher earnings, warmer weather and the Brexit deadline extension, according to a retail industry body.
Like-for-like sales, which ignore shop closures and openings, rose by 0.7% compared with the same period in 2018, data compiled by the British Retail Consortium and advisory firm KPMG found.
This is the highest rate since the three months to July 2018, and much stronger than the 0.6 contraction in February to April last year compared with 2017.
