By Ian McConnell
The UK economy stagnated during October after declining in each of the preceding two months, official figures show, its worst run since the first quarter of 2009 amid political and economic uncertainty fuelled by Brexit.
The figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics show, comparing the three months to October with the May to July period, UK gross domestic product was flat.
An ONS spokesman said: “The UK economy saw no growth in the latest three months. There were increases across the services sector, offset by falls in manufacturing with factories continuing the weak performance seen since April. Construction also declined across the last three months with a notable drop in house building and infrastructure in October.”
GDP was unchanged month-on-month in October, after falling by 0.1 per cent in September and by 0.2% in August. UK construction output dropped by 2.3% month-on-month in October.
Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY ITEM Club think-tank, said: “The economy got off to a poor start to the fourth quarter. It was clearly stuttering at the end of the [third] quarter.”
Boris Johnson pledged after becoming Prime Minister in July to bring about Brexit by Hallowe’en, which fuelled fears of a no-deal departure. He ultimately did not achieve this aim.
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