Consumer spending has rebounded from a lull over the summer and looks set to increase rapidly in the last quarter of the year. The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the value of retail sales rose by 2.1 per cent in September.

This compares to a sharp fall of 4.7 per cent in July followed by a modest recovery of 1.7 per cent in August. Year-on-year, the value of sales was ahead 16.2 per cent in September.

The main reasons for the drop in sales during the summer was the seasonal fall off in new car sales and increased numbers of people taking foreign holidays, according to Dr Dan McLaughlin, the chief economist with ABN Amro.

Retail sales in volume terms were still falling on a three month basis. This is the measure preferred by the CSO as it gives a more stable indication of underlying trends. The July-September 2000 volume figure shows a 2.5 per cent decrease compared to the three months ending in August 2000, according to the CSO.

Economists chose however to focus on the September figure.

"This is further evidence that consumer spending is buoyant," said Mr Alan McQuaid of Bloxham Stockbrokers. He said that sales were up by around 13.2 per cent in volume terms over the first three-quarters of the year and more than nine per cent when car sales were excluded.