Investing.com - Retail sales in the U.K. rose in line with expectations in August, boosting the outlook for third quarter growth, according to official figures on Thursday.
The Office for National Statistics said retail sales increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, in line with forecasts.
Retail sales were up 3.7% from the same month a year earlier, slightly short of expectations for a 3.8% increase.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose 0.1% last month and were up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5512 from around 1.5499 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7302 from 0.7310 earlier.