U.K. third-quarter performance figure adjusted
As is becoming the norm at the moment, the Office for National statistics has released adjusted figures for UK economic performance in the third quarter. Due to an upward revision in output growth in the services industry the new figures show that the economy fell by just 0.3% between July and September against initial estimates of 0.4%.
It is believed that many analysts had expected this upward revision of the performance of the UK economy and while there is confidence it will turn the corner into growth territory in the fourth quarter of 2009, this is far from certain. The UK economy is proving very difficult to predict in the short to medium term and indeed there are concerns that 2010 could be a very difficult year due to the "hangover" from 2009 and the fact that a number of fiscal support programs will be terminated.
The UK stock market seems at the moment anyways to have discounted the short-term uncertainty in the UK economy and is looking towards the medium to longer term. Whether these more optimistic forecasts for the medium to longer term prove correct remains to be seen but one thing is certain, if the UK economy does not move into positive territory in the fourth quarter of 2009 we could very well be back to "square one".
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