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mpc: 5 A18 Quarterly growth of household consumption expenditure (including non-profit institutions serving households) had been unchanged at 0.6% in Q3. However, revisions to previous quarters back to 1998 Q1 had reduced the level of consumption in Q3 by 0.6%. Much of the downward revision in 1999 Q1 and Q2 had reflected changes in the seasonal pattern of expenditure on cars (which had been significantly affected by the introduction of the new registration month in March 1999). Quarterly growth in investment in Q3 had been revised down by 0.1 percentage points to 0.1%, but upward revisions to previous quarters, mainly to investment by the `other services' sector, had increased the level of investment in Q3. Growth in investment in the services sector had slowed during 1999, and manufacturing investment continued to fall in Q3. Government consumption expenditure growth had been revised upwards to 0.7% in Q3, but downward revisions to previous quarters had left the level 0.3% lower. A19 Final domestic demand in Q3 had been slightly weaker than domestic demand growth because the change in inventories (revised up slightly) had contributed 0.1 percentage points to quarterly GDP growth. Revisions to previous quarters reduced the amount of destocking in 1998. Excluding the alignment adjustment, inventories had risen by £230 million in Q3. The revisions made little difference to the pattern of inventories as a proportion of output. A20 The deficit on trade in goods and services had narrowed in Q3 to £2.9 billion. Revisions to 1998 data had reduced the overall current account balance for the year to a £0.5 billion deficit from a surplus of £0.1 billion. Both import and export volumes growth had been strong in Q3 at 4.5% and 6.0% respectively. Monthly goods data had shown that export volumes had fallen 2.4% in October, while import volumes had remained high. Exports to non-EU countries had bounced back slightly in November. A21 Within the household sector, real post tax income had fallen by 2.0% in Q3, but there had been considerable volatility in recent quarters reflecting sharp changes in dividend income. The household saving ratio had fallen to 4.5% as a result of the fall in income. Growth in the gross operating surplus of corporations had been revised up in Q3 to 3.5%. The level of the gross operating surplus in Q3 had been revised up by 5.7%. Net borrowing by PNFCs had increased as a percentage of GDP in Q3 compared with a year ago.