UK economy slows sharper than expected
March 27, 2009 by Admin
GDP contracted by 1.6pc in the fourth quarter of 2008, revised down from a contraction of 1.5pc, the Office for National Statistics reported. The quarterly fall of 1.6pc was the sharpest decline since 1980.
Construction output tumbled 4.9pc over the quarter, revised down from a fall of 1.1pc. The ONS said this was due to survey data replacing a forecast.
The decline is the biggest quarterly fall in construction output since the fourth quarter on 1980.
Output of the production industries fell 4.5pc compared with a fall of 1.8pc in the previous quarter, driven by the marked decline in manufacturing output.
Separate figures showed Britain’s current account deficit narrowed to £7.641bn in the fourth quarter of 2008 from an upwardly revised deficit of £8.162bn in the third quarter.
Sterling fell against the euro on Friday as it continued to suffer the fallout from Thursday’s weak retail sales figures. High street sales plunged by 1.9pc during February, taking annual growth down to just 0.4 percent, its weakest since 1995
Following that theme, John Lewis – the department store group whose sales are often seen as a barometer of British retail spending – reported on Friday sales dropped by 12.6pc in the week to March 21.
