Hopes of an early Easter boost for the long suffering high street were dashed today when official figures showed retail sales flatlined in March. The “lacklustre” performance was well below City forecasts of around 0.3% growth and follows a 0.1% rise in February. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed sales volumes at department stores were worst hit, falling 3.8%, a figure that does not bode well for the recovery of John Lewis. Supermarkets and other food stores were down 0.7%, while online shopping also suffered with sales 1.5% lower. Analysts pointed out that if a 3.2% bounce in fuel sales is excluded the picture is even weaker with underlying volumes falling 0.3% on the month. However, there were some brighter spots with fashion and furniture stores seeing rising sales. The weak figures follow a mediocre Christmas with only strong growth in January providing much cheer for retailers. Over the first three months of the year as a whole, sales volumes were up 1.9% on the previous three months — but 1.2% below pre-Covid levels. Today’s figures suggest that economic growth is still weak but probably not so dire as to keep the UK in recession. In also...