· Both food and non-food stores have gained strength in recent months, with non-food clearly in the lead.  Within that sector, the advances have rotated among groups.  "Other", which would encompass books, gifts, jewelry, sporting goods and miscellaneous items have most recently been the strongest, up at a 10.5% annual pace in the latest three months Clothing stores have the largest year-on-year increase, 7.5%.  So-called "non-specialized" stores have had less buoyant sales, while those at non-stores, that is mail order and Internet buying, have been falling rather markedly.

· Thus, UK consumers seem to be selective in their buying and have seen the novelty of shopping from home fade somewhat.  Even so, demand is growing firmly and has already contributed to the Bank of England's decision earlier this month to raise its "repo rate" from 3.5% to 3.75%.  The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee indicated that, among other factors in their decision, they had expected household spending to be slower than has developed in these last several months.