Second quarter GDP confirmed – but revisions see annual growth lower
UK GDP revisions see growth unchanged at 0.7 per cent in the second quarter, inline with analyst estimates which expected no change from the preliminary reading.
Revisions have seen GDP to the second quarter drop from 1.5 per cent to 1.3 per cent however. Growth in the first quarter has been revised up from 0.3 per cent to 0.4 per cent, while growth for 2012 as a whole has been revised down from 0.2 per cent to 0.1 per cent.
Business investment is lower too, at -2.7 per cent from -1.9 per cent. Economists had been forecasting revisions to business investment to show 0.9 per cent growth.
The pound has fallen against the dollar on that worse than expected news.
Jeremy Cook, chief economist, World First:
Manufacturing, construction and services industries all contributed positively in Q2, but we are looking for a slowdown in consumer expenditure into Christmas alongside a dip in manufacturing output as export market growth also slows.
Business investment is the main negative from today’s release with the figure 2.7% lower on the quarter and 8.5% versus a year ago.
Dr Carney will be hoping that the low rates argument that his ‘forward guidance’ plan is championing reverses this trend but headwinds from the Eurozone and near-term fiscal issues in the United States may delay this in the meantime.