U.K. retail sales rose 3.6 percent in December, AP quoted official data as showing today. The Office for National Statistics said the value of sales in stores dealing mainly in food was 4.9 percent higher than a year earlier, while spending in nonfood stores was up 1.6 percent. Internet sales accounted for 4.9 percent of total spending, the agency said. Analysts said U.K. inflation figures released on Tuesday, which showed a 2.9 percent jump in the consumer price index in December, suggested that retailers did not resort to the early, deep discounting of a year ago. There was also some evidence that consumers made some purchases in December to beat a rise in sales tax in the new year.
