The U.K. economy contracted in the last three months of last year by more than had been initially estimated thanks to downward revisions of industrial and services output, according to The Daily Telegraph. On Friday, the Office for National Statistics reported that the U.K. saw a 0.6% contraction in gross domestic product during the fourth quarter of 2010, which disappointed economists expecting to see the original figure of a 0.5% contraction unchanged. The ONS included a 0.5% “best estimate” for the impact of harsh winter weather on the data.
Within the report, household spending was seen lower by 0.1%, which is the first decline in a year and a half. Meanwhile, output for the services sector was revised to show a 0.7% decrease rather than 0.5% initially, while industrial output was revised down by the same amount to a 0.7% gain. Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said the downwards revision “reinforces concerns over the underlying strength of the economy.” According to Bloomberg, a separate report from GfK NOP showed that consumer confidence in the U.K. remain near a two-year low, rising only one point to -28 during February, with confidence in the outlook for the next year declining.
Click here to read the story on U.K. growth from The Daily Telegraph.
Click here for coverage of consumer confidence from Bloomberg News.