UK Economic growth freezes

Economic growth in the UK ground to a halt in the second quarter of the year, ending almost 16 years of continuous growth.

The announcement of 0% growth has led to many fearing that the country is heading toward recession.

The Office of National Statistics had predicted modest growth of 0.2%, but even this was too high for the current climate of falling consumer confidence, inflation well above government targets and plummeting house prices.

Jonathan Loyns, chief European economist at Capital Economics, warned that Britain’s economic weakness is likely to last for some time. He said: “We’ve entered a period of acute weakness that’s unlikely to be short-lived. There’s a good chance we’re facing at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”

As a result of the housing market crash, Britain’s construction industry has been hit hard. According to the Office of National Statistics, construction output fell 1.1% between April and June.

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