The CBI tell us that shops are still having a bad time in the High Street as retail falls again for the third month in a row. Their forecast for August is no better. The results are mitigated by saying that the fall is no greater than the rises we saw in May and June and a lot better than the falls between July 2008 and March 2009. That's better than expected by a lot of people.
Sales volumes are down but not as much as expected. Stocks are adequate to meet demand even though they are below average for the thrid succesive month. Orders fell again and the outlook for all of these figures is more of the same in August.
When looking at the individual sectors, grocers are seeing strong growth, as are footwear and leather with its best result since August 2007. Hardware, china & DIY, and furniture & carpets are reported falls while household durables fall is slower than last year. Wholesalers sales volumes fell in the year to July. In particular it was a difficult month for industrial materials and builders' merchants wholesalers. Food and drink wholesalers however reported another month of strong growth.
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