UK economy stuck in its longest recession

23 10 2009 United Kingdom

Shock figures show the economy slowed further between July and September, making this the longest recession on record

Figures compiled by the Office for National Statistics show that the UK’s economy shrank by a further 0.4 per cent in the last quarter.

The figures show that GDP has been falling every quarter since April 2008. This is the first time that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has fallen for six consecutive quarters since records began in 1955.

After five consecutive quarters of contraction, economists had predicted modest growth of 0.2 per cent during the third quarter of the year. The worse-than-expected result was caused mainly by poor performance in the services sector and a drop in manufacturing output in August.

The latest figures from ONS are the first estimate and may be revised upwards or downwards at a later date. They follow on from yesterday’s shock retail sales figures for September which showed zero growth for the second consecutive month.

Sterling, which had performed strongly in the past few days, fell nearly 2 cents against the dollar to $1.6503 on the news that the economy is still not out of the woods.

Back to top of page

© 2009 Copyright topenterprise uk ltd All rights reserved
Property of topenterprise uk ltd and made available under the terms of use notice on this web site