The UK economy grew by an estimated 0.5% in the third quarter, better than expectations of 0.3%. But economists warned that the coming months are likely to see a slowdown.
“While it is reassuring to see that the economy did not slide back into contraction, the third quarter is already history,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at financial data firm Markit. “More important are the forward-looking indicators, of which today’s release of the manufacturing PMI is the most alarming.”
The measurement sank from 50.8 to 47.4, where 50 is the neutral point, signalling that UK manufacturing has moved into a period of contraction.
“Looking ahead, this could be the strongest GDP number we see for a few quarters as leading indicators are pointing to a meaningful slowdown,” said Azad Zangana, European economist at Schroders.
©2011 funds europe
