Two figures jump out of April's retail sales index, which was released this week.

Overall, sales increased marginally compared to April, 2003 after inflation was taken into account.

But building and hardware sales for the month rose by just 3.1 percent before inflation, in contrast to the large increases in sales that have been recorded since Hurricane Fabian struck in September.

One month does not make a trend, but it does suggest that the construction sector, which has fuelled much of the Island's growth in the last few years, may be starting to cool off.

The second figure is the 44.9 percent increase in overseas purchases compared to last April. This is a trend since this is the fourth consecutive month and the sixth month in the last seven in which increases in overseas buying have exceeded 25 percent.

That's worrying news for the retail industry and also will begin to damage the Island's balance of payments if it is continues.