Recent Updates
- Norway: International Reserves (Feb-Prelim)
- Denmark: Bankruptcies by Industry (Feb)
- Belarus: International Reserves (Feb)
- Estonia: CPI (Feb)
- Australia: Official Reserve Assets (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
U.S. Productivity's Decline Lessened in Q4'20; Reverses Q3 Increase
Revisions to nonfarm business sector productivity indicated a 4.2% decline during Q4'20...
EMU Unemployment Rate Steadies in January
The overall EMU unemployment rate was steady in January, off peak, but still elevated...
U.S. ADP Nonfarm Private Payroll Increase Disappoints in February
Job market strength moderated last month....
U.S. ISM Services Index Weakens in February
The ISM Composite Index of Services Activity declined to 55.3 during February...
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 |