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mpc: 16 It remained hard to gauge the momentum in consumption growth, with only a limited amount of new evidence coming to light since the Committee's February meeting. Retail sales had risen in January following the fall in December. But the rebound had been modest and sales in the three months to the end of January were unchanged on the previous three months. The February British Retail Consortium Retail Sales Monitor and CBI Distributive Trades Survey were consistent with moderate retail sales growth in February. The Bank's Agents had, however, reported some further slowing, with contacts expecting retail sales values to be broadly flat. Total car registrations had fallen further in February and private registrations had remained particularly weak. A large proportion of new car registrations annually occurred in March and some manufacturers were reportedly discounting in an attempt to boost sales. Overall consumer spending had grown more rapidly than retail sales in 2004 Q4 and the Bank's Agents had reported that non-retail consumer spending growth ­ in hotels and restaurants, for example ­ had remained firm.