UK GDP revised upwards
Gross domestic product (GDP) in the UK was revised higher in the first three months of 2010 due to a rebound in industrial production and business services. The figure has been revised from an initial estimate of 0.2% to 0.3% although this is still down on the 0.4% growth seen in the final quarter of 2009. While the revision is interesting and welcome it is something which was expected by many economists once industrial production and business services data was finalised. So where does this leave the UK economy?
The very fact that growth in the first quarter of 2010 was lower than in the final quarter of 2009 is a worry. Since the end of the first quarter of 2010 we have also seen the European debt situation gradually crumble, the details of a worse than expected UK financial position emerge and only yesterday we saw the first of many significant cuts in public sector spending. So what can we expect in the future?
While there is no doubt that slow but steady progress has been made in the UK over the last six months it is worth remembering that Europe is a major trading partner and any slowdown in the European economy will impact on UK economic activity. This appears almost inevitable at this point in time with concern and worry now commonplace amongst investors.
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