By CountingPips.com
Retail Sales data was released today out of the United Kingdom and showed that retail sales increased in July for the second month in a row according to a report by National Statistics. July’s retail sales increased by 0.4 percent following a revised increase of 1.3 percent in 
June. July’s annual rate of increase was 3.3 percent higher than the July 2008 level following June’s annual increase of a revised 3.1 percent.
Market forecasts had expected an approximate monthly increase of 0.4 percent in July and a 2.7 percent annual increase.
Contributing to the sales gain was a increase in household goods stores by 4.5 percent and other stores sales increased by 1.1 percent. Overall, predominantly non-food stores increased by 1.1 percent in July while predominantly food stores declined by 1.0 percent.
