Economy still growing but at a slower rate
THE rate of growth in the economy slowed in the last quarter of 2014 to 0.5%, the Office for National Statistics said today. Overall growth in 2014 was 2.6%.
The estimated GDP figures for the last three months of 2014 showed a 0.2% decline from the previous quarter.
Overall growth in 2014 was 2.6%.
The ONS said output increased in two of the four main industrial groupings within the economy in Q4 2014. In order of their contribution, output increased by 0.8% in services and 1.3% in agriculture.
In contrast, output decreased by 1.8% in construction and 0.1% in production.
GDP was 2.7% higher in Q4 2014 compared with the same quarter a year ago. GDP in 2014 as a whole was up 2.6% on 2013.
In Q4 2014 GDP was estimated to have been 3.4% higher than the pre-economic downturn peak of Q1 2008. However, from the peak in Q1 2008 to the trough in Q2 2009, the economy shrank by 6%.
The largest contribution to Q4 2014 GDP growth came from the service sector, with the various industries growing by 0.8% to contribute 0.62 percentage points to the increase in GDP.
This followed an increase of 0.8% in Q3 2014. In the latest quarter there was widespread growth, with increases in three of the four main services aggregates (distribution, hotels & restaurants; transport, storage & communication; business services & finance).
Output from government and other services was flat for Q4 2014. Growth in each of the main services aggregates was lower than in Q3 2014 with the exception of distribution, hotels & restaurants, which grew by 1.3%, following a rise of 0.7% for Q3 2014. Retail made the largest positive contribution to the increase. In Q4 2014 output from services was 7.9% above its pre-economic downturn peak in Q1 2008.
There was a decline (0.02 percentage points) from the production industries with an overall fall of 0.1%. Energy supply decreased by 2.8% reversing an increase of 2.8% in Q3 2014, and mining & quarrying decreased by 0.6% following a decrease of 1.6% in Q3 2014. The decrease in energy was mainly caused by a decrease in the manufacture of gas.
Partially offsetting these decreases was a rise of 1.2% in water & waste management, following a decrease of 0.3% in Q3 2014, and a rise of 0.1% in manufacturing following an increase of 0.3% in Q3 2014.
Construction output decreased by 1.8% in Q4 2014 compared with Q3 2014, contributing -0.11 percentage points to GDP growth. This followed growth of 1.6% in Q3 2014. Compared with the previous month, November 2014 saw a dip in construction output of 2%, following a fall of 1.9% in October 2014. Early responses for last month indicate a rise into December.
