By Jason Douglas

LONDON--British retail sales were flat in April after several months of strong growth, as shoppers stayed away from the high street and instead sought out bargains online.

Still, the figures were better than economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting, reinforcing expectations that consumers will continue to power the U.K. economy during 2019 as uncertainty over the country's departure from the European Union crimps business spending.

Retail sales in April were flat compared with March, and 5.2% higher than a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Sales of clothing and footwear, especially online, helped offset a slide in sales at department and food stores.

Sales in the three months through April, a measure that smoothes out monthly fluctuations, were 1.8% higher than the previous three-month period, data showed.

British households, buoyed by low unemployment, cooling inflation and rising wages, have kept the U.K. economy growing at a steady if unspectacular pace in recent years, defying predictions that Brexit would bring growth shuddering to a halt.

Write to Jason Douglas at Jason.Douglas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2019 04:46 ET (08:46 GMT)

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