‘OVERALL PICTURE IS FRAGILE’

 

Between April and June, the output of the economy had fallen by 0.7%

This gloomy news follows a 0.3% drop in the first three months of the year.

The Office for National Statistics blamed the larger than expected fall in a sharp slowdown in the construction sector.

It said it was not yet sure of the size of the effect of the poor weather and the extra June bank holiday.

“The bottom line from all this is that the underlying performance of the economy was probably somewhat better than the headline figure of -0.7% would suggest, having regard to the extra bank holiday and to the poor weather,” said Joe Grice from the ONS.

“How much that effect might be is something we won’t be able to say or to quantify until we have further experience against which to judge.

“Nevertheless, the overall picture is of an economy that remains fragile.”