It's not just spending on goods and services that is faltering, though. So too is demand for housing. Bank of England figures on Thursday might confirm last month's picture that mortgage approvals and lending are both slowing down. Because of this, the Nationwide could well report that house prices have fallen for a fourth successive month, which would mean that prices adjusted for inflation are now lower than a year ago.
Things aren't all bleak for retailers, though. Polling group GfK could report next week that consumer confidence has been stable for months, perhaps because increased employment is offsetting cuts in real wages. And households are acting on this: Bank of England figures should show that consumer credit is growing strongly, suggesting that people aren't (yet) preparing for hard times.
Weaker consumer spending, however, isn't being offset by stronger corporate spending. Friday's national accounts figures will show that companies were big net savers in the first quarter, and Bank of England data is likely to show that this has continued into the second quarter, with companies increasing their cash balances even more.
Better hope for the UK economy lies in the external sector. Other figures next week are likely to show that overseas economies are doing well. Germany's Ifo survey might show that companies' trading conditions are stronger than at any time since the survey began in 1991. In the eurozone generally, ECB data should show rises in both the narrow money stock and bank lending, which are lead indicators of growth. In the US, we should see a rise in durable goods orders and still-high consumer confidence (albeit not as much so as in March). And Japanese data should show that industrial production is on a rising trend - which betokens good growth in Asia generally.
All this should in theory, of course, be good for UK exports. This might not, however, be greatly evident in next week's data, which could show that the current account deficit rose in the first quarter, to around 3 per cent of GDP.
