Britain faces a recession, says leading index report
FALLING consumer and business confidence points to a shallow recession for the UK economy, the US-based Conference Board said yesterday.
The group’s Leading Indicator Index (LEI) fell for the fifth consecutive month in December, down 0.5 points to 102.0, based on a figure of 100 in 2004.
However, the Coincident Economic Index, measuring current activity, increased 0.1 per cent in the month after remaining unchanged for the two previous months.
“The LEI fell as a mild improvement in financial indicators failed to offset the further decline of business and consumer confidence,” said Conference Board economist Jean-Claude Manini.
“Confidence picked up in January, however, so there may be a bottoming out in the leading indicators for the U.K., as we have seen in the Euro Area LEI, which improved somewhat in December.”