(fxcue news) - UK retail sales expanded at the fastest pace in eight months in January due to the rebound in food store sales volume, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Retail sales volume increased 1.7 percent in January from December. The monthly growth confounded a revised fall of 0.6 percent in December. This was the first increase in five months and was also stronger than the expected growth of 0.4 percent. Food store sales advanced 5.6 percent, marking the biggest monthly growth since March 2020. By contrast, non-food sales edged down 1.3 percent and auto fuel sales were down 1.2 percent. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales registered a monthly rise of 2.1 percent, reversing a 0.9 percent decrease in December, data showed. Sales were forecast to grow 0.9 percent. On a yearly basis, retail sales growth softened to 1.0 percent in January from 2.8 percent in December. Economists had forecast sales to log a much weaker growth of 0.6 percent. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales grew at a slower pace of 1.2 percent annually after rising 2.1 percent in the previous month. Elsewhere, survey data from the market research group GfK showed that British consumer sentiment rose moderately in February. The consumer sentiment index gained two points to -20. All sub-indices of consumer confidence were up from January. The index measuring the past personal finances rose three points to -7, while the outlook for personal finances climbed four points to +2. The measure for the general economic situation over the last twelve months moved up two points to -44. Likewise, expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months improved three points to -31. The Major Purchase Index was up three points to -17 in February.