DIY sales soar in August report the ONS

In August 2020, retail sales were back up above last year for the first time in value terms since February 2020. DIYSpending for home improvements continued to rise in August as sales volumes within household goods stores increased by 9.9% when compared with February.Retail sales volumes increased by 0.8% when compared with July; this is the fourth consecutive month of growth, resulting in an increase of 4.0% when compared with February’s pre-pandemic level.Online retail sales fell by 2.5% in August when compared with July, but the strong growth experienced over the pandemic has meant that sales were still 46.8% higher than February’s pre-pandemic levels, and 34.6% higher than last year.