High street sales in Britain showed a modest rise in January even though retailers cut prices to lure in shoppers.
The monthly report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says trading in the January sales period picked up from the run-up to Christmas but was "well down" on most of last year despite widespread price cutting.
Its survey reported sales from January 2nd to January 22nd were better than a year ago, with 38 per cent of firms saying trade was up and 31 per cent saying it was down.
The results gave a balance of plus 7 per cent - subtracting those reporting falls from those reporting rises - which compares with -3 per cent in December.
But the rise is far below the +37 per cent average seen over the first five months of 2002
On the three-month moving average, sales grew at their slowest rate since March 1999, the CBI said.
PA
