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It's the day of British GDP
Hello.
The gross domestic product is not a perfect measure. And this is not surprising: how can a single number sum up everything that happens in an economy, good or bad?
GDP can not distinguish between an activity that is actively harmful and an activity that improves our lives. He struggles to cope with the Internet, is not very good at measuring service improvements, and can not cope with unpaid work at all.
Despite these shortcomings, GDP is the inescapable measure for policymakers who want to know how their economy is doing. And today, the British economy is in the spotlight.
GDP for the fourth quarter of 2018, expected at 9:30 am, is expected to slow significantly. Economists predict that the economy only increased by about 0.3% in October-December, only half as fast as the 0.6% recorded during the July-September heat wave.
Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec, predicts that the economy may not have progressed in December.
"By bringing the elements together, we expect the GDP to remain unchanged in December, even though we may see a very slight gain," he said. "This translates to a rise of 0.3% [for the fourth quarter].
"We will be looking closely at business investment – the area we consider to be most affected by Brexit concerns – and especially to see if it has recorded a fourth consecutive quarterly decline."
Here is the overview of Angela Monaghan:
Such moderate growth would raise concerns about the weakening of the UK and the global economy. Brexit, US-China trade wars and political tensions in the euro zone will all be blamed.
Today's report will show how the manufacturing, services and construction sectors performed well in the last quarter. The Office for National Statistics will also release new trade figures, giving a decent picture of the health of the economy as we prepare for Brexit.
L & # 39; s calendar
- 09:30 GMT: Release of UK GDP report for the fourth quarter of 2018
- 09:30 GMT: UK trade balance for December
Update
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