CBI survey points to fragile recovery on high street
Today's retail survey by the CBI points to a fragile recovery on the UK high street even though sales increased for the third month in a row. The report shows that 43% of retailers questioned saw their sales increase in early April, with 30% reporting a fall which equates to a net balance of +13. While this is the same figure as March it is well down on the February figure of +23 and has forced the CBI to issue a warning over the recovery in the UK retail sector.
There is a growing belief that it would not take much to knock UK retailers and UK consumers out of this recovery phase with many concerned about the next election amongst other things. Recent news that UK unemployment is also rising again is a further warning against complacency on the high street and in the UK economy as a whole. We appear to be entering a difficult period for the UK economy with concerns in the investment markets regarding a potential hung Parliament and the problems which may follow this.
Caution would appear to be the current watchword from the CBI and it is easy to see why they have taken this particular stance.
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