just found out what. Was not expecting any news!
Sales volumes at U.K. retailers rose again in June as soccer World Cup fever continued to have a positive effect, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry Wednesday.
In its monthly distributive trades survey, the CBI said a balance of +9 of retailers reported higher sales in June, the same level as in May.
This was a touch lower than the +11 reading expected by a group of analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
The CBI said that purchases related to the World Cup in Germany, such as supermarket food and electrical goods like TVs, were still boosting consumer spending.
It's the third month in a row that the CBI survey balance has been positive, suggesting the U.K. economy is on a steady path of recovery after a slowdown last year.
But the data is unlikely to impact the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's thinking dramatically, with the committee still widely expected to keep rates on hold at 4.5% next month.
The CBI said that it had doubts the spending recovery would continue after the soccer tournament finishes next month.
"Consumers' purchases linked to the World Cup have lifted sales for some sectors," said John Longworth, executive director of Asda and chairman of the CBI's Distributive Trades Panel. "But not all sectors have benefited and the recent pick-up may prove to be short-lived once the England team returns home - let's hope not too soon."
The CBI said that the three-month trend for June was +7, the first-time the three-month growth rate has been positive since February 2005.