Skip to main content

UK GDP hit by bad weather


Britain's economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2010, figures reveal, raising fears of a double-dip recession.

The Office for National Statistics said December's severe winter weather was largely to blame for the surprising figures, which show the first contraction of growth since the third quarter of 2009.

"The disruption caused by the bad weather in December is likely to have contributed to most of the 0.5 per cent decline, that is, if there had been no disruption, GDP would be showing a flattish picture rather than declining," it said in a statement.

Analysts had previously been expecting modest growth of 0.4 per cent for that quarter.

The figure is likely to spark concerns over the strength of the British economy as the coalition government brings in a raft of austerity measures aimed at curbing the country's national deficit.

The measures include dramatic cuts to public services including hundreds of thousands of public sector job losses.

George Osborne, the country's finance minister, said the figures were "disappointing" but that the country would "not be blown off course by bad weather".

``It's notable that sectors of the economy that are less affected by the poor weather, such as manufacturing, continue to perform strongly, helping to rebalance our economy," he said,

Northern Europe was badly affected by severe snow and ice last month, causing major air, road and rail disruption.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India film industry contributes $6.2 billion in year

India's film and television industry contributes an immense $6.2 billion (Rs 28,305 crores) to the Indian economy, according to a new report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report, titled Economic Contribution of the Indian Film and Television Industry, also finds that the sector has a total gross output of $20.4 billion (Rs 92,645 crores) and contributes more to the GDP of India than the advertising industry. "This report demonstrates the importance of the film and television sector to the overall growth and vitality of the Indian economy. Indians should be proud of the staggering growth that the film and television industry has achieved," said Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) chairman Dan Glickman, who launched the report in New Delhi at the Asia Society Conference. "The film and television industry in India is one of the world's largest markets in terms of number of consumers and offers significant growth potential. Over the past fe...
1 comment
Read more

HR group says BSF kills one Bangladeshi in every four days

Taking part in an open discussion, Odhikar general secretary Atikur Rahman Khan said BSF is killing one Bangladeshi in every four days. Human rights group Odhikar and Human Rights Watch at a press conference at BRAC Centre on December 13, 2010 revealed a report on killing, abuse and torture by the Border Security Force (BSF) of India along the border. About 1,000 Bangladeshis were killed by Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) over the last decade, according to a report released by rights groups in the capital city Dhaka in Bangladesh on December 13, 2010. Apart from the killings, the report says, the Indian border guards usually threaten, abuse and beat Bangladeshi people living in frontiers villages, but they hardly get any cooperation from Bangladesh police. "It's a gross violation of human rights." The report was prepared based on statements of victims, witnesses, journalists, human rights workers, law enforcement officials and members of BSF and BDR. The re...
1 comment
Read more