According to both Barclaycard and the British Retail Consortium, whilst consumer spending was up by 5.5% for the month of April most of this was attributed to essentials such as supermarkets and petrol. Spending in these markets had gone up by 11% year-on-year, signifying the fastest rate of growth since Barclaycard began releasing data on consumer spending. Some of the reduction in spending on the high street was thought to be a response to the increase in the rate of inflation, from 0.6% to 2.3%, meaning inflation is now at a similar level to annual growth in average earnings.