The UK economy expanded at its slowest rate since 1992 during the first three months of this year, according to revised figures out today from National Statistics. Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a revised 0.1pc in the first quarter from the last three months of 2002 on a seasonally and inflation-adjusted basis. This was slower than the previous estimate of a 0.2pc rise and is the slowest pace of growth for UK GDP since the second quarter of 1992.
The revised figures will come as a surprise to many analysts who had forecast that GDP would be unchanged at 0.2pc. Year-on-year, UK GDP rose a revised 2.1pc in the first quarter, compared with the previous estimate of 2.2pc growth. This is the lowest year-on-year pace of growth since the second quarter of 2002. In the fourth quarter of 2002, GDP rose 0.5pc quarter-on-quarter and 2.3pc year-on-year. National Statistics cited the sharp downward revision on construction output as a significant contributory factor in the drop in growth. Construction output was revised to show a contraction of 1.9pc from the fourth quarter, reversing the 2.1pc gain in the previous estimate. //www.fxcentre.com