August retail sales jumped 10.3 percent.

This was more than twice the pace last month when sales were hit by the electricity blackout.

Car sales revved up by 47.3 percent, but this was offset by a fall in apparel sales following the closure of Trimingham?s.

After adjusting for the annual rate of inflation measured at 2.9 percent in August, the volume of retail sales rose 7.2 percent. This was the third highest volume of retail sales experienced so far in 2005.

Retailers of motor cars and motorcycles experienced a surge in sales due largely to increased stock levels and the availability of new lines of larger car models.

New vehicle size legislation has increased demand for new vehicles since the start of the year. Car dealers have experienced an average monthly increase in 2005 sales of 19.6 percent, higher than the 8.8 percent average reported in 2004.

Jeff Stirling, managing director of Continental Motors, which sells Peugeot vehicles said: ?Seven seaters are very popular, a lot of people were waiting for the new models and we were not selling these cars before the vehicle size law was introduced.?

?Customers have placed orders for these cars which will sell shortly after they arrive in the showroom.?

Daniel Greenslade, owner of Rayclan Limited, said: ?I think some people are replacing their old cars and purchasing new cars and the second hand car market has increased dramatically as people no longer have to wait for a year to sell their cars.?

Richard Davidge, owner of Eurocar Limited, said: ?We have not seen an increase in car sales but historically about 2000 new cars are sold every year.?

Service stations reported a 21.3 percent gain in gasoline sales. But much of the increase can be attributed to the 12.2 percent jump in the cost of premium and mixed fuel.

Apparel retailers deteriorated for the second consecutive month, declining 22.5 percent after a 6.1 percent drop in July. Apparel sales have been negatively affected by the closure of Trimingham?s at the end of July.

Although almost all apparel retailers experienced double digit sales growth in August, these supplemental sales were not enough to offset the volume of sales previously generated.

Building material suppliers also reported lower sales for the second consecutive month. Sales of construction related materials fell 4.2 percent following a steeper drop of 11.2 percent in July.

Sales in this sector started off the year very weak, followed by a strong second quarter and then weakened again in the third quarter.

Food stores reported double-digit gains for the second consecutive month in August. Sales this month jumped 11.9 percent following a 9.2 percent advance in July.

Part of this increase can be attributed to the 3.2 percent increase in the price of food items during the month as well as the addition of an extra day in August.

Residents returning to the Island from business and vacation trips declared overseas purchases of $6.5 million during the month of August, a slight increase of $0.1 million over last August?s purchases.