Britain’s economy shrank in March due to worker strikes
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Britain ended the first quarter of the year with modest growth of 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, but contracted by 0.3% in March, partly due to labor strikes.
It is reported BBC, British Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The British economy grew by 0.1% in January-March – at the same pace as at the end of last year. In terms of months, in January the country’s economy grew by 0.5%, after which it began to slow down – it remained unchanged in February, and decreased by 0.3% in March.
ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan explained that overall growth for the quarter was driven by IT and construction, which was partly offset by falls in health, education and public administration as these sectors were hit by strikes.
In terms of output, the services sector grew by 0.1% in the quarter, driven by growth in IT and communications, as well as administrative and support services. The construction sector grew by 0.7%, while the manufacturing sector grew by 0.1%, particularly manufacturing – by 0.5%.
On the expenditure side, household consumption did not show growth in the quarter, while gross fixed capital formation made a positive contribution. The fall in consumption is a consequence of high inflation and a prolonged increase in the Bank of England’s interest rates.
We remind you:
On Thursday, the Bank of England raised interest rates by a quarter of a point to 4.5% as it predicts inflation will remain higher than previously expected and the economy will perform more strongly.
In February, Britain due to mass strikes of workers lost 348 thousand working days.
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