British economy has grown at its long-run average during the first quarter of the year. Data from the office for National Statistics (NS) show that UK GDP has been left unrevised at 1Q 0.6% from a 2.2% a year ago. This forecasted slowdown has been mainly driven by retail sales, particularly clothing and footwear after a strong Christmas outturn. "A rise in the trade deficit acted as a drag on GDP in the first quarter," stated the NS in its report. Industrial production, which represents around 20% of the UK's GDP, has been revised up with a 0.8% rise from the 2005 4Q. The correction was determined mainly by the manufacturing sector, which saw production rise by 0.7%. On a yearly basis, industrial output fell 0.9% while manufacturing rose a 1.0%. More data from the NS show that household consumption growth added 0.2% to GDP during the quarter. That left output 2.2% higher than a year earlier. Finally, consumer spending dropped again at the beginning of this year. It rose by just 0.2% on the quarter, the slowest pace since Q2 2005, and by 1.7% YoY. These figures will be of concern to policy makers in the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, which in February predicted that growth in consumption would be a key driver in the economy.