UK economy flat
The UK economy has been flatlining over the past few months, official figures show.
The economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), saw no growth in the three months to January 2020 on the previous three months, the same outcome as for the final quarter of 2019 on the third quarter 2019.
The services sector showed no growth in the three months to January 2020. The main drivers behind the weakening seen in services were the wholesale, retail and motor trade sector and the information and communication sector, which fell by 0.7% and 1.0% respectively. These falls were largely offset by increases in administrative and support services activities, and education, growing by 1.1% and 0.8%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the production sector fell by 1.0% in the three months to January 2020, driven by widespread falls in the manufacturing industry.
Manufacturing output fell by 1.2% with widespread weakness in the sector. Nine of the 13 subsectors posted falls in output; this was led by a 2.2% fall in car output, and a 2.1% contraction in food, beverages and tobacco.
Elsewhere in production, mining and quarrying performed poorly in the three months to January, falling by 2.9%.
The one sector to post growth was construction, where output was up by 1.4% in the three months to January 2020. This increase was driven by private new housing, non-housing repair and maintenance, and private commercial.