Retail sales continued to weaken in August, rising 4.8 per cent compared with August 2000. The value of sales was only 0.6 per cent higher in August than July, although if the motor trade is excluded the increase was 9.7 per cent.

According to Mr Michael Crowley, economist at Bank of Ireland, the figures confirm the weakening trend during the year. "However, at around 5 per cent, sales are still relatively strong - albeit significantly slower than in 2002," he said.

The volume of retail sales, excluding price effects, increased by 2.1 per cent in August and if motor trades are excluded the increase in volume is 5.6 per cent.

On a three-month basis - which tends to give a more stable indication of trends - volume figures show a 0.4 per cent increase compared with the three months ending May 2001.

Detailed sectoral figures are available only up to July. The three months' figures to July show the largest increase in the volume of sales was in hardware, paints and glass, which were up 8.3 per cent. Footwear/leather and textiles/clothing were up 4.6 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively.

The largest decrease was in furniture and lighting which fell 10.3 per cent. Food beverages and tobacco fell 1.6 per cent over the three months.

Industrial production has continued to decline and was down 4.9 per cent for the three months from June to August, according to the latest data from the CSO. While the year-on-year figure for August was up 5.6 per cent, it fell 3.7 per cent for July. According to the provisional August data, there was an 11.4 per cent increase in the production of consumer goods and a decrease of 4.6 per cent for capital goods.

The sharpest increase was in medical, precision and optical instruments, watches and clocks, where production rose 58.1 per cent from June to August. The sharpest decline was in radio, television and communications equipment and apparatus, where production fell 36 per cent in the period.