The latest batch of economic statistics point to a continued slowdown in consumer borrowing and spending from the heady levels of last year. Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday showed that the value of retail sales in July was down 0.2 per cent on June's levels.
However, car sales accounted for much of this and if the motor trades are excluded, sales value rose by 10.9 per cent, the CSO said. On a year-on-year basis, the value of sales was up by 6.2 per cent.
Figures released by the Central Bank suggest that the slowdown in lending has also continued. The annual rate of growth in residential mortgage lending fell for the eleventh consecutive month in August, slowing to 19.7 per cent from 20.1 per cent in July.
The overall rate of private sector credit growth also slowed to 14.2 per cent, from 18.9 per cent the previous month.
However, the bank said this partly reflected a base effect while technical factors also played a part.
Meanwhile, industrial data showed that the average weekly earnings of industrial workers rose by 8.1 per cent in June when compared with June 2000. However, industrial employment fell by 1,000 in the quarter to June .
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