Consumers unfazed

With just eight days to go until Brexit and uncertainty higher than ever, it is reassuring that households increased their spending on the high street at a decent rate in February. Admittedly, the strength appears to have come at the expense of non-retail spending. And the retail figures in the coming months might not be quite so buoyant. Indeed, the surveys suggest that sales growth won’t defy gravity for much longer. But with inflation benign, employment rising at its fastest pace in three years and earnings growth at a decade-high, consumers look well placed to cope with whatever the Brexit saga brings next.