UK economy shrunk by 0.5% at end of 2010

Weather blamed for shock fall in GDP

The UK economy shrunk by a shock 0.5% in the last quarter of 2010 as Britain's recovery from recession faltered.

Most of the unexpected contraction was caused by the wintery weather that gripped Britain last month, the Office for National Statistics said. Without it, GDP would probably have been flat suggesting that the UK economy had already run out of steam before the snow hit the country.

The data sent the pound falling by around a cent to $1.581.

The eagerly awaited GDP figures will put the government's austerity programme under fresh scrutiny, with Labour arguing that cuts are being made too deeply, and too rapidly.

City experts had expected GDP to grow by anything from 0.1% and 0.7% with last month's weather making predictions harder.

More to follow.


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Britons in Egypt: Foreign Office planning 'for all eventualities'

Image
As street protests continue the UK government announces it is putting contingency plans in place for its citizens The government is working on contingency plans to ensure the safety of the 20,000 Britons who are on holiday in Egypt as tensions in the country continue to escalate. In a statement to the commons , the Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said that the government was planning "for all eventualities" as the massive street protests stretched into a seventh day . But the Foreign Office (FCO) would not comment on whether the evacuation of British citizens was being considered. Burt said that most of the Britons currently in Egypt were in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where no serious unrest has been reported with around 10,000 others elsewhere in Egypt. "The situation on Egypt is still very uncertain," said Burt. "The safety of our citizens is out top priority. We are putting in place contingency plans to ensure that we are prepared for all ...
Keep reading

James Blunt gets mother's backing in 'posh pop' row

Image
Jane Blount says Harrow-educated son has faced 'harsh criticism', amid claims musicians are too middle class James Blunt's mother today waded into the debate about whether pop stars these days are too posh, emailing the BBC to complain that her Harrow-educated son was subject to "harsh criticism" because of his privileged background. The suggestion that at least 60% of contemporary chart pop and rock acts feature former public school pupils was first raised in a recent issue of the music magazine The Word . The rise of privately educated performers such as Lily Allen, Florence Welch and Chris Martin, it was suggested, spelled the end of working-class guitar heroes. According to the magazine's editor, Mark Ellen, in the past the rich were not interested in popular arts. "If they dabbled in the performing arts at all," he wrote, "it would be within the highbrow ghettos: opera, ballet, classical theatre. In the past 10 years, the well-heeled young...
Keep reading

NHS applauded for boost in quality of hospital care

Image
British Medical Journal pinpoints areas of improvement in safety standards The quality and safety of much of the care offered by the NHS is good and getting better, health experts report in tomorrow's British Medical Journal. Researchers said: "Baseline performance across hospitals was already high on many criteria relating to quality, leaving little room for improvement". They cited a strong performance by the NHS in areas such as stopping blood clots, improving handwashing by staff, monitoring seriously ill patients' vital signs, reducing hospital-acquired infections, and giving steroids promptly to those with breathing problems. David Cameron and the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, have recently criticised the NHS for not offering the same quality of care in key areas, such as cancer and heart problems, as other European countries, notably France, although doctors and the King's Fund thinktank have challenged their claims. NHS Health Denis Campbell guardian....
Keep reading