MNI 5 THINGS: Services Rebound Lifts July GDP Into the Black>

By Les Commons and Laurie Laird

     LONDON (MNI) - UK gross domestic product rose by a 

much-higher-than-expected 0.3% in July, powered by a rebound in the 

service sector. 

     The following are the key points from July GDP 

and trade data released by the Office for National Statistics on Monday. 

     - July GDP growth exceeded the 0.1% expansion forecast by City 

economists, although total output was unchanged over the three months 

to July, after contracting by 0.2% in the second quarter. 

     - The service sector expanded by 0.3%, the best performance since 

November of 2018, with much of the strength stemming from the the 

rental and leasing of capital equipment. Administration and Support 

services, which included rental and leasing activity, rose by 1.6% 

between June and July, the biggest increase since May of 2017. 

     - Financial services eeked out a 0.1% rise in the three months to 

July, the first increase since the three months to April of 2017. The 

subsector rose by 0.1% in July, the third consecutive month without a 

decline, after falling for 14 straight months between March of 2018 and 

April of 2019.

     - The second quarter trade deficit was revised to 6.874 billion, 

from the originally-reported gap of Stg4.272 billion, suggesting that 

trade will provide less of a boost to later iterations of GDP. Net trade 

added a record-high 3.5 percentage points to growth in the first 

release of Q2 GDP.  

     - June trade was revised to a deficit of Stg132 million, a sharp 

deterioaration from originally reported Stg1.78 billion surplus, billed 

last month as a record high.

-London bureau: 44 (0) 203 865 3812; email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com 

[TOPICS: M$B$$$,MABDS$,MAUDR$]