More like this
Data shows economy contracted in final quarter
Business Digest: Pound and FTSE hit by GDP news which is worse than expected
The economic news is worse than expected. Despite predictions of minimal growth, the UK economy actually shrunk by 0.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2010.
The Office for National Statistics is blaming the wintery weather that gripped Britain over the Christmas period, badly affecting the services and construction sectors.
However, even without the cold snap GDP would probably have been flat - suggesting the UK economy had already run out of steam.
Economists, who had expected the GDP figures to show growth of between 0.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent, now fear Britain could suffer a double-dip recession.
The ONS data caused the pound to fall by more than one cent against the dollar to $1.576, and pushed the FTSE 100 index down by 36 points.
Read a full report at the Guardian. ·
