(MENAFN) The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that the country's retail sales increased by 4.2 percent in April compared to the same month of the previous year, in which it declined 2.2 percent, Xinhua reported. BRC said in a press release that the total sales jumped 5.7 percent over the period, with furniture and flooring registering their highest growth in April since Easter 2006. Data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that Britain's retail sales quantity, including auto fuel, rose 0.1 percent in March 2014, compared with that of February. "There are now clear signs that the retail economy is expanding as retailers offer great new products and competitive prices to consumers who are still watching their spending very closely," said director general of BRC.