retail sales sale signREUTERS/Andrew WinningA woman walks past Selfridges department store after shopping on the first day of their sales, in central London December 26, 2014.
The UK's latest retail sales figures are out, and they're extremely strong.
Sales surged upwards, rising 6.5% in the year to September, an increase of 1.9% month-on-month alone.
That's far better than anyone expected, and may cause people to revise expectations for a minor slowdown in the British economy as the year comes to an end.
Sales rose by 3.7% year-on-year in August, and analysts were expecting a rise of 4.8% year-on-year in September.
Retail sales are closely watched as a proxy for consumer confidence and demand.
The UK's economic recovery is particularly consumer-driven, so any uptick or dip in sales could indicate an acceleration or slowing in growth.
Ruth Miller, UK economist at Capital Economics, said that the overall climate for spending is going to be positive  for some months ahead:
There are plenty of reasons to remain upbeat about the outlook for spending in the run up to Christmas. The boost to households’ discretionary spending power should persist thanks to solid pay increases and inflation staying close to zero for the rest of the year. And while consumer confidence slowed in September, it remains at an elevated level by past standards. With strong fundamentals still in place, we are optimistic that the consumer recovery will maintain a strong pace over the rest of the year.