020 7898 0500ONS released its first ever monthly GDP reading yesterday which showed the UK economy grew by 0.3% in May from 0.2% the month before. The jump was largely because of the recent performance of the service sector, which has received a significant boost in the form of a heatwave.
However, the picture wasn’t quite so rosy for others sectors. The manufacturing sector contracted by 1.2% in the three months to May, while industrial production output dropped by 0.6% in the quarter. Construction growth fell by 1.7% in the quarter, although much of this can be attributed to the suspension of projects because of the inclement weather we experience a lifetime ago in March.
We also saw that Britain’s trade deficit widened by £5 billion to £8.3 billion in the three months to May 2018. This was largely because car exports declined in the quarter and it is worrying that vehicle sales to the US, Oman and Australia all shrank – these will be some of the nations we will increasingly rely upon once we have left the European Union.
Today the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is due to give a speech, before we all head out to watch England play Croatia in the semi-finals of the World Cup.
