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mpc: 6 A24 The Committee had received the industrial production data for July 2002 during its meeting. Manufacturing output had grown by 4.9% on the month in July, following a downwardly revised fall of 5.5% in June. A25 On the expenditure side of the accounts, final domestic demand had risen by 0.5% in the second quarter. Domestic demand had increased by 0.2%, with changes in inventories having reduced GDP growth by 0.3 percentage points. A26 Private sector consumption (including that of non-profit institutions serving households) had increased by 1.2%, and real government consumption had fallen by 0.9%, in the second quarter. Whole-economy investment (including the net acquisition of valuables) had fallen by 0.6%. Business investment had risen by 0.3% on the quarter, within which private sector manufacturing investment had fallen and private services investment had increased slightly. Net trade had contributed 0.4 percentage points to quarterly GDP growth. Total exports of goods and services had risen by 3.0%, and total imports had increased by 1.5%. A27 Turning to indicators of activity for the third quarter, retail sales volumes had grown by 0.3% in July. In the year to July, sales had increased by 4.5%, which had been the lowest annual growth rate since January 2001. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Distributive Trades survey in August had suggested that annual growth in retail sales volumes would continue to ease. The reported sales balance had fallen to +5 in August, from +16 in July. The GfK index of consumer confidence had been unchanged at +2 in August. Annual growth in private car registrations had remained robust in July. A28 The Nationwide house price index had risen by 2.5% in August, taking its annual rate of increase to 22.7%. The Halifax house price index had increased by 0.2% in August, taking its annual rate of increase to 18.8%. Particulars delivered were 132,000 in July, unchanged from June. A29 The output and orders indices in the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) manufacturing survey both picked up in August, having weakened for the previous three months. The output balance rose to 55.0 in August, from 50.2 in July, and the orders balance rose to 51.0, from 49.5. The CBI Monthly Trends manufacturing survey had also shown an improvement in the expected output balance, which had risen to +16 in August from +9 in July.