Latest UK Economic Indicators- April 2007
- Annual real GDP growth slowed slightly in 2008 Q1 to 2.5%, down from 3% the same time in the previous year. In the same period, investment growth fell sharply to 1.1%, down from 9.3% the year before. Household expenditure remained resilient.
- Agriculture and Construction recorded solid output growth in early 2008 relative to the performance exhibited in the previous year, contrary to reports in the media suggesting the opposite for the latter. Agricultural annual output grew by 1% in 2008 Q1 having recorded negative growth throughout 2007, whilst construction output grew by 2.4%. The service sector showed signs of weakening with output growing by 1.4% less than the figure a year previously.
- The Consumer Price Index stood at 3.3% at the beginning of July, which prompted the Governor of the Bank of England to write a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 2008 Q1, input and output price levels had accelerated from levels a year previously and stood at 6.1% and 19.8% respectively.
- In the first half of 2008, the Sterling exchange rate started to weaken against the Euro, falling to 1.2615 which is the lowest it has reached since the latter currency's inception. The pound also depreciated against the dollar in the same period after exceeding the two dollar mark at the end of 2007.
- Retail sales increased by 5.4% between the first quarters of 2007 and 2008.
- Household consumption of durable and non-durable goods increased to £24.4bn in 2008 Q1 in spite of the squeeze on liquidity.
- The savings ratio fell to 1.1% in early 2008 - the lowest it has been in the last ten years. This came as a result of a sharp decline in gross savings between the first quarters of 2007 and 2008.
- The UK workforce grew by around 40,000 jobs between the final quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008. Around 11,000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector but this was offset by a gain of around 19,000 jobs in the banking, finance and insurance sector.
- In 2008 Q1, employment remained strong at 79.1% of the working age population with only the South East of England recording a higher rate (79.5%). In the same period, the unemployment rate was the lowest of all the UK regions at 3.6%.
- The annual claimant count rate was the lowest in 2007, as was the monthly rate (May 2008).
Previous UK Economic Indicators
back to top
print friendly
Last Updated: 27th August 2008