LONDON (AP) — Economic data raised hopes yesterday that the worst of the recession could be over in Britain, showing a jump in retail sales, a strong rise in new homebuyer inquiries and a slowing rate of decline in manufacturing output.

The flurry of positive news was bolstered by a favourable survey from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, although the OECD and some analysts warned against celebrating too early.

"Today's good news indicates the patient has been stabilised and a recovery is imminent," said Hetal Mehta, senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club economic consultancy.

Other economists cautioned that the Bank of England's inflation report for May due out today is likely to confirm forecasts of a significant contraction in gross domestic product this year, before a modest recovery next year.

"The UK economy is far from being out of the woods," said UniCredit economist Chiara Corsa, adding that risks are "still skewed to the downside".

Still, the British pound received a boost from the news that same-store sales jumped 4.6 percent in April, the best growth in three years and far above economists' expectations.

The British Retail Consortium said the surprise leap was largely due to a warm and sunny Easter break. Last year, the holiday fell in March and was followed by a cold and wet April.

"Following a tough winter, there's some pent up demand but there's no reason to think customers suddenly feel flush or eager to spend," said BRC director general Stephen Robertson. "With unemployment set to grow through the rest of the year, mounting jobs worries will hold back spending for some time."

In another surprise, manufacturing output declined at its slowest pace in more than a year in March while data on the sector for February was favourably revised — a factor that economists said could lead to an upward revision from the reported 1.9 percent plunge in first-quarter gross domestic product.

After a 3.1 percent decline in manufacturing output in January, output fell 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent in February and March respectively, taking the three-month growth rate to negative 5.5 percent, compared with the 6.2 percent estimated in the last national accounts release.

Meanwhile, in its monthly survey of the housing sector, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed that net balance of surveyors reporting a rise in new buyer inquiries climbed to 41 percent in April from 32 percent in March, the highest figure for almost a decade.

Sales also edged up a little further, with surveyors selling an average of 10.6 properties over the past three months, up from 9.7.

"There are tentative signs that the market is starting to pick up but transactions remain at very low levels and we are unlikely to see significant improvement while money remains in short supply and the employment picture is uncertain," said RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf.

The domestic data releases were supported by the latest "leading indicators" survey from the OECD, which found that Britain was showing "tentative signs of ... a pause in the economic slowdown".