Double-dip fears recede on cheery sales data - papers

Fears of a double-dip recession appear to have receded after the high street enjoyed surprisingly robust trading last month, boosted by continued hefty discounting and catch-up shopping after December's snow.

But industry experts still expect a testing year ahead for retailers, with continued pressure on household budgets and mounting fears over inflation and unemployment, particularly in the public sector, writes the Independent. Confounding fears of an early new year "bloodbath", mid-market retailers delivered like-for-like sales up 9.1% in January, BDO's High Street Sales Tracker found. The British Retail Consortium is also expected to report positive underlying sales growth for the sector in January, but its closely-watched monthly figures are not expected to be quite as bullish. MORE...