Shoppers signal end to boom

SHOPPERS slammed on the brakes last month, it emerged today, in the first sign that the High Street spending boom may finally be running out of steam. The CBI's latest poll of more than 20,000 stores found sales in May grew at the slowest pace since the immediate aftermath of the 11 September attacks.

Some 49% of retailers reported higher sales than a year ago, while 24% said business was down. The resulting balance of 25% was a dramatic decline on April's 57% when sales were boosted by Easter and good weather.

Growth expectations for June remain close to those of the past three months, indicating a reasonably robust rate of expansion but not a return to boom conditions. Alastair Eperon, chairman of the survey's panel and a director of Boots, said: 'All the evidence in today's survey points to a gradual slowdown in consumer spending.'

The slowdown was particularly marked at grocers, shoe shops and DIY stores.

Meanwhile, the latest survey from the Engineering Employers' Federation revealed the engineering slump has bottomed out, but the climb out of recession is expected to be long and hard.