Retail sales in Great Britain increased in February, while experts expected an average decrease. According to the British statistics agency, store sales climbed 0.4 percent on a monthly basis.

Economists had thought that the British would keep their hands on the bill because of all the uncertainty caused by the Brexit, but that proved to be incorrect. Thanks to rising wages and mild winter weather, British consumers spent more on things for the garden and sporting goods, for example. Sales of food and clothing went down.

Compared to last year, UK retail sales were 4 percent higher. Here, economists in general predicted an increase of 3.3 percent.