GDP Growth unrevised at 0.2%

OFFICIAL data confirmed today that the UK economy grew by 0.2% in second quarter of the year as manufacturing output dropped.

The Office for National Statistics also confirmed annual growth of 0.7%, as analysts had forecast.

The dominant services sector was the main driver of growth in the second quarter, but output fell by 0.1% on the month in June.

The ONS originally published its growth figures in July and published its unrevised update today.

Growth in the second quarter was hit by a number of factors, including the extra holiday for the Royal Wedding and supply chain disruptions in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The ONS said that those factors shaved off up to 0.5 percentage points from quarter-on-quarter growth.

Industrial output fell by 1.6%, slightly more than first estimated and the worst quarterly decline since the first three months of 2009. Construction and services output rose by 0.5%.

Source : Ian Briggs - Business Desk.com
www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/212392-gdp-growth-unrevised-at-0.2.html