A massive leap in retail sales. Excellent news surely. But no. Even if you are in the shopfitting business, this is does not make comfortable reading.

On figures like these the markets are pricing in interest rate rises. This reaction encouraged, do doubt, in part by the tough words by the Governor of the Bank of England on targeting inflation at the annual Mansion House speech.

Sadly bad news remains just that, as we see further evidence of the weak housing market in the latest Council of Mortgage Lenders figures that show lending down 19% on a year ago.