Recent Updates
- Israel: Average Housing Prices (Q2)
- Japan: NCI Economic Activity Index (Aug)
- US: NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (Aug)
- Canada: Wholesale trade, MSIO (June)
- Pakistan: Foreign Currency Deposits and Utilization (JUL)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Carol Stone April 22, 2005
GDP growth in the UK edged lower in Q1 to 0.6% from 0.7% in Q4. We indicated this possibility yesterday in discussing retail sales, which fell outright in March. The four-quarter performance thus stood at 2.8%, the slowest since Q4 2003.
All the major industry sectors participated in the weakening. The overall distribution sector, which includes retail and other trade, as well as hotels, restaurants and repair services, declined 0.1% after gaining 0.2% in Q4. Total services increased 0.8%, marginally less than in Q4. Industrial output also declined 0.1%, the same as in Q4; this sector is now down from a year ago, by 0.2%. Construction activity grew 0.6%, compared to the prior period's 1.1%, and the agricultural sector lost 0.8% after increasing 0.9% in Q4.
United Kingdom % Changes, Seasonally Adjusted |
Q1 2005 | Q4 2004 | Year Ago | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total GDP | 0.6 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
Industry | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.1 | -2.5 |
Services | 0.8 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 2.7 |
Distribution, etc. | -0.1 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 5.1 | 3.0 | 4.7 |