Economy contracts faster than expected in October
The size of the UK economy contracted in October as the manufacturing and construction sectors were hit by poor weather.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is thought to have fallen 0.3% during the month, down from 0.2% growth in September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
It came as all three of the main sectors that the ONS tracks fell into negative territory for the first time since July. Economists had expected GDP to contract by just 0.1%.
“Our initial estimates suggest that GDP growth was flat across the last three months. Increases in services, led by engineering, film production and education – which recovered from the impact of summer strikes – were offset by falls in both manufacturing and housebuilding,” said ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan.
“October, however, saw contractions across all three main sectors.
“Services were the biggest driver of the fall with drops in IT, legal firms and film production – which fell back after a couple of strong months.
“These were also compounded by widespread falls in manufacturing and construction, which fell partly due to the poor weather.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub