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January 11, 2019

Evening Standard – Economic growth halves as confidence ebbs away amid Brexit uncertainty

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Britain’s economic growth has halved since the summer against a backdrop of Brexit chaos and the threat of global trade wars, official figures have shown.

 

GDP moved ahead 0.2 per cent in November, bringing the quarterly rolling average growth rate down from 0.4 per cent to 0.3 per cent.

 

It had been as high as 0.7 per cent in the three months to August when output was boosted by the royal wedding, the World Cup and hot summer weather. However, data from the Office for National Statistics showed that confidence ebbed away during the autumn as Theresa May struggled to win support from her Cabinet for her plan to quit the European Union. City experts said there was unlikely to be any pick-up for the economy while there was still so much uncertainty.

 

Mike Jakeman, senior economist at consultancy PwC said: “The clear loss of momentum in the economy since the summer is as expected, given the ongoing lack of clarity on Brexit. For as long as this remains unclear, businesses will continue to defer major investment plans and households will reconsider making big-ticket purchases.”

 

Pablo Shah, economist at forecasters CEBR said: “The economy has now entered what is likely to be a prolonged spell of weak growth. CEBR forecasts that the UK economy will expand by 1.1 per cent in 2019, which would make it the weakest year since the 2009 recession, as economic uncertainty continues to cripple sentiment among firms and households alike.”

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