UK RETAIL SALES ARE BOOMING

Retail sales rose 5.7% in the year to February, smashing expectations.

Economists were expecting a 4.7% boost to sales - even that would have been much better than the long-term growth rate.

Sales climbed 0.7% month-on-month, contrary to predictions of a 0.4% increase.

This is the latest in a series of very strong retail sales numbers in the UK, signalling that consumers are funneling savings from petrol (coming from the falling oil price) back into other spending.

Sales rose 4.6% in October, 6.4% in November, 4.3% in December and 5.4% in January too. This is now looking like a very strong trend.

What's more, average retail prices are plunging - down 3.6% in the year to February, driven by a 15.5% fall in petrol prices.