Gasoline sales have fallen as record high prices keep people from filling up their cars

Gasoline sales fell sharply last month as people couldn’t fill up their cars due to record prices at the pumps.

Selling fuel in yards decreased by 4.3 percent in June because drivers saved money. At the beginning of this month, gasoline reached a record value of 191.53 per liter, while diesel reached 199.07 per liter. Meanwhile, prices have come down but remain high.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the sharp fall in fuel sales in June outstripped the overall fall in retail sales by 0.1 percent.

Sales of clothing fell by 4.7 percent, and household goods by 3.7 percent, which means High Street another miserable month generally. Shoppers are cutting costs as inflation raises prices at the till and skyrockets household bills.

Even online retailers have problems. The Internet accounted for just over one-quarter of sales in June, down from February 2021, when the highest share was more than 37 percent.

The overall retail figure was flattered by a 3.1% rise in food sales as families headed out for jubilee celebrations and street parties at the start of the month. This marked the first increase in food sales this year.

Small decline in June it follows May’s drop in retail sales by 0.8 percent volumes and funds moved stores last month down 5.8 percent from a year earlier, though that’s still up 2.2 percent from pre-pandemic February 2020.

In the second quarter as a whole, sales volume decreased by 1.2 percent compared to the previous three-month period. It marks the fourth consecutive quarter of volume decline.

Martin Beck, chief economic adviser at EY Item Club, said retail sales were suffering from a prolonged recession that would worsen as inflation threatened to rise to double digits.

“The possibility of another significant rise in the energy price cap by Ofgem in October is likely to lift inflation to 11 per cent or more in the autumn, putting further pressure on real earnings,” he said, adding that consumer confidence was already at a “historic low”. .

“Granted, very low unemployment, still strong demand for workers and healthy household balance sheets mean that the retail and wider consumer sectors continue to enjoy some support. However, a significant slowdown in the growth of consumer spending is seen.”

Rising fuel and food prices, along with higher interest rates, mean the GfK survey remained at -41 at 48 in July. The group said UK consumers were “deeply depressed” about the outlook.

Paul Dales of Capital Economics said the retail pain was a sign of things to come for the wider economy.

“Some people will take advantage of the extra long jubilee bank holiday weekend to spend more time in pubs and restaurants,” he said.

“Nevertheless, we believe that the jump in inflation will result in a 3% reduction in real household disposable income this year and a further 2% reduction next year. As a result, a recession seems inevitable.”