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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (47825)	3/7/2006 12:25:42 AM
From: regli	Respond to of 116555

Wintry gloom hangs over high street and car salerooms business.guardian.co.uk Ashley Seager Tuesday March 7, 2006 The Guardian Shop sales remained sluggish last month, defying hopes they might rebound after a weak January, as consumers proved reluctant to shop for summer fashion or big-ticket items, the British Retail Consortium says today. Meanwhile, figures released yesterday showed private new car sales fell to their lowest level for six years in February, suggesting consumer spending is feeble across the board. The BRC's latest snapshot of the high street shows like-for-like sales, which exclude new floor space, rising just 0.6% in February from a year earlier. The BRC says even that number was flattered because sales were falling last February. The underlying three-monthly rise slowed to 0.9%, from 1.1% in January. "These results underline yet again the continuing squeeze on consumer spending and, contrary to the Bank of England's expectations, there is no sign of an upturn," says Kevin Hawkins, BRC director-general. The report, echoing a similar one from the CBI last week, shows that spring and summer clothing ranges had a poor month, with consumers stuck in a winter mindset. Food sales, though, improved thanks to Valentine's Day. Total sales, which include new floor space, were up 3.5% on the same month last year, but the BRC warns that this increase was much smaller than the rise in retailers' costs caused by surging rents, rates and utility charges. Yesterday's car sales data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders made grim reading for the industry. Although overall sales last month were down only 1.4% year-on-year, the figures were flattered by a recovery in fleet buying after a change in company car taxes. Private sales were down 12.2%, worse than the overall 10% fall in 2005 from 2004. Alan Castle, economist at Lehman Brothers, calculated the private sales on a seasonally adjusted basis which showed car sales at their worst since late 1999.