UK economy contracts at fastest rate on record

  • Story by: Gemma Westacott
  • Magazine: FTAdviser
  • Published Tuesday , June 30, 2009

The UK economy contracted by 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of the year - its biggest quarterly decline on record since the data began more than 50 years ago.

Advertising

According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today (30 June), the fall in gross domestic product (GDP) was also more severe than the estimate of a 1.9 per cent decline made last month.

The ONS blamed that sharp revision on weaker output within the the construction and manufacturing sectors and more complete data for services.

Overall, output of the production industries fell 5.1 per cent, while service industries fell by 1.6 per cent, with negative growth in all sub-industries except government and other services, which grew by 0.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, construction output fell 6.9 per cent in Q1 2009, compared with a fall of 5.0 per cent in the previous quarter.

FTAdviser BLOGS RSS

Latest Post  

Beware the unemployment ides of March: Jennifer Gilchrist

While today’s news that UK unemployment has fallen (to 2.45m) for the third consecut... read more

SIGN UP TO NEWS ALERTS



FT Adviser Blogs

FTAdviser's Blogs offer daily commentary and analysis, as our writers vent spleen about the latest developments impacting on the intermediary market.

To read the latest blogs click here

FTAdviser  Jobs  RSS

More positions