Second monthly drop in a row, - everybody, as we know? indeed, the second monthly drop in a row, and l everybody, as we know? indeed, the| second monthly drop in a row, and as you say, a bigger drop than most experts predicted. the ons said it is clear that the rising cost of living is a majorfactor at is clear that the rising cost of living is a major factor at play here. like in february, online sales were the biggest driver. they fell 79% in march as more and more of us shied away from making nonessential personages. demand for petrol and diesel also fell dramatically, as prices hit record highs in march. the average cost of filling a family car is nowjust shy of £90, a rise of 32% on the same period last year. don t forget, these figures don t cover the period where our energy bills saw a dramatic rise. earlier this month in april, roughly 18 million households saw their bills rise by £700, a rise of 5a%, and even more for those on prepayment metres. there wasn t increased activi