Bank Rates

Next decision:  7 June 2012 at 12 noon.

Overview of minutes: See Minutes of 4 & 5 April 2012

Who's voting: View the Minutes of the MPC 4 & 5 April 2012 here. For further general information go to the official Bank of England website at www.bankofengland.co.uk

UK Inflation

Inflation Pressures

CPI inflation - The largest upward pressures to this change came from food, clothing and recreation & culture. Partially offsetting these were downward pressures from electricity, gas & other fuels and transport. The CPI stands at 122.2 in March 2012 based on 2005 = 100

RPI inflation - The largest downward pressures to this change came from motoring expenditure and fuel & light. Partially offsetting these were upward pressures from food and clothing. The RPI stands at 240.8 in March 2012 based on January 1987 = 100

For more UK inflation information go to the ONS website here.

GDP Growth

GDP Factors: Manufacturing decreased by (-0.9%), business service & finance industries (neutral) 0% and construction down (-0.5%).

For further information go to the ONS website www.statistics.gov.uk

Retail Sales headlines

Value of retail sales in March 2012 increased by 5.7% when compared with March 2011.

Sales volumes in March 2012 increased by 3.3% when compared with March 2011.

Sales volumes growth was driven by other stores, non-store retailing and predominantly automotive fuel.

The year-on-year implied price deflator in March 2012 rose to 2.5% from 2.4% in February 2012.

Internet sales values (non-seasonally adjusted) in March 2012 increased by 15.2% compared with March 2011.

Internet sales are now estimated to account for 8.5% of all retail sales values excluding automotive fuel.

Monthly Construction Output Survey

This podcast presented by the Office of National Statistics explains trends in construction in the UK. The survey represents 8,000 construction businesses of in excess of a third of construction employment and more than half of the construction turnover in the UK.