Britain's Recovery Isn't As Strong As Expected

Flickr/Phalinn Ooi

UK gross domestic product grew by 0.7% in the three months to September compared with the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.

The final figure is unrevised from the previous estimate published in November and down from 0.9% growth in the second quarter. 

However, the original year-on-year growth figure of 3% was revised down by 0.4 percentage points to 2.6% That's not great because it means Britain's recovery has not been as strong as expected.

The downward revision "is particularly disappointing as Britain has already been experiencing the slowest recovery in decades," The Guardian writes. 

Here's economist Shaun Richards' reaction on Twitter:

Ouch! UK ONS: Between Q3 2013 and Q3 2014, #GDP in volume terms increased by 2.6%, revised downwards by 0.4% #NoXmasPresent

- Shaun Richards (@notayesmansecon) December 23, 2014

Meanwhile, the UK's current account deficit has increased to £27 billion in the third quarter of this year, up from £24.3 billion in the three months before. That makes the current account deficit equivalent to 6% of the UK's GDP. 

The pound has dropped to 0.16% against the dollar on the news:

BBC