UK GDP falls 0.4% during April

The economy of the United Kingdom registered a contraction of 0.4% last April compared to the previous month, when the British GDP had fallen by 0.1%, which is the largest monthly decline in economic activity since March 2016 , according to the data of the National Statistics Office (ONS) for the first month after the postponement of the departure of the country from the European Union (EU).

The worsening of the economic contraction during the fourth month of the year responded to the collapse of the activity in the British manufacturing sector, which fell by 3.9%, its biggest decreases since 2002.

On the other hand, the activity of the service sector of the United Kingdom stagnated in April, against the fall of 0.1% in February, while the construction reduced its fall to 0.4%, against 1.4% of the month previous, and in the production sector, there was a fall of 2.7%, after growing seven tenths the previous month. For its part, agriculture remained stable after retreating one tenth in February.

Despite this decline, the second consecutive one, the data corresponding to the quarterly moving average between February and April showed a growth of 0.3%.

“The GDP growth showed a weakening in the last 3 months, with the economy contracting in the month of April, mainly due to a dramatic fall in the production of cars, with uncertainty in the United Kingdom before the date of departure of the EU initially planned that led to planned closures”, explained Rob Kent-Smith, responsible for GDP at ONS.

“There was also a widespread weakness in manufacturing in April, as the momentum of early completion of orders before the original EU withdrawal date has faded”, he added.

K. Tovar

Source: Eleconomista