ONS confident

Tuesday 22 December 1998 00:02 GMT

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THE OFFICE for National Statistics (ONS) said it had "absolute confidence" in its retail sales data, following criticism of recent official figures by leading UK retailers.

The ONS said official retail sales figures were based on a 5,000-strong sample of firms drawn from all parts of the retail sector, and, unlike survey data, were based on cash through the till, rather than comparisons with the previous year's trading.

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