As the Bank of England unveils its latest inflation figures, two more sets of statistics relating to the economy have been published.

The British Retail Consortium's Shop Price Index indicates that prices on the high street have increased by 0.08 per cent during November 2002, compared with October 2002.

And the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply has also produced figures showing that the services sector expanded for the 11th consecutive month in November.

Forum Response: British Retail Consortium

Bill Moyes, director general of the BRC, said: "In the run up to Christmas, these figures demonstrate the value customers are getting in the shops.

"Despite increases in the costs of doing business, retailers are managing to deliver keen prices - benefiting the consumer and the wider economy. However, we can only continue to keep delivering this value if the government acts to reduce business costs."

Forum Response: Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply

Roy Ayliffe, director of professional practice at CIPS, said: "To sustain margins in the face of fierce competition, purchasing managers utilised spare capacity to support the growth of new business. Economic uncertainty across the services sector can be seen to have subdued the growth of new business levels resulting in the lowest levels of business optimism for almost a year."

Forum Response: Business Services Association

A spokesman for the Business Services Association said: "The latest CIPS survey of the private service sector reinforces the importance of business-to-business services within the UK economy and the value they add to clients in both the public and private sectors.

"Containment of costs, delivery of quality services and the introduction of innovation are the hallmarks of this vibrant part of the economy. The combined effects of skills shortages and client pressure on costs have led to a reduction in staff recruitment, but output has increased to compensate for this.

"Unlike the rest of the economy, the future for our sector remains bright."