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mpc: 5 consumption had fallen by 0.4% in Q1. Total investment (including acquisitions less disposals of valuables) had decreased by 0.1%. Business investment had increased by 1.9%. Within this, manufacturing investment had increased by 4.9% in Q1, while private service sector investment had risen by 2.7%. By implication the government and private sector dwellings components of investment had been weak. The gross operating surplus of corporations had decreased by 1.8%. A23 Inventories had made a small positive contribution to GDP growth in 2000 Q1. Including the alignment adjustment, inventories had risen by £0.6 billion. Most sectors had experienced an increase in their inventories. The CBI Monthly Trends survey in May had reported that manufacturers still perceived their stocks to be more than adequate, though their balance was below the long-run average. A24 Net trade had contributed 0.3% to GDP growth in 2000 Q1. Total exports of goods and services had increased by 3.2%, and imports had increased by 2.0% in Q1. Exports of goods had risen by 2.3% in March, and imports were also 2.3% higher. Goods exports to and imports from non-EU countries had both risen by around 3% in April. A25 Turning to indicators of Q2 activity, manufacturing output had fallen by 0.2% in April. But total industrial production had risen by 0.8%, reflecting a large rise in energy sector output. Retail sales volumes had fallen by 0.3% in April but had risen by 4.5% on a year earlier in the three months to April. The CBI Distributive Trades survey had shown a total balance of +45 retailing respondents reporting higher sales in April compared with a year ago and further growth was expected in May. The British Retail Consortium survey had reported an increase in May. The MORI measure of consumer confidence had risen to -11 in May while the GfK confidence index had increased to +2.7 from -3.8 in April. Private new car registrations in the three months to April had fallen by 3.5% on a year earlier, while total new registrations had increased by 1.1%. A26 The housing market indicators had shown signs of a slowdown. Both the Halifax and Nationwide Prices indices had fallen by 0.4% in May. Annual rates, though still high, had fallen, as had three-month rates. The Nationwide three-month rate had only fallen a little and remained high at 5.0%, but the Halifax three-month rate had fallen sharply to zero. A preview of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey of estate agents for May had shown