MNI 5 Things: UK GDP Plunges in December, Q4 Expands Modestly>

By Les Commons, Laurie Laird and Jai Lakhani

     LONDON (MNI) - The following are the key points from the fourth 

quarter UK GDP data published Monday by the Office for National 

Statistics. 

     - The UK recorded modest growth in the fourth quarter, despite a 

0.4% plunge in December, the biggest monthly fall since March of 2016. 

     - The December decline stretched across a range of sectors, with 

manufacturing dropping by 0.7%, services retreating by 0.2% and 

construction output plunging by 2.8%, the biggest monthly fall since 

June of 2012.    

     - Car production continued to disappoint, reversing by 4.9% in the 

fourth quarter, the biggest fall since the first quarter of 2009. 

     - Business investment slumped by 1.4%, the fourth straight 

quarterly decline, dropping by an annual pace of 3.7%.  

     - The trade gap narrowed modestly in December, but expanded in the 

fourth quarter, shaving 0.12 percentage points from GDP. National 

Statisticians noted no significant evidence of increased "stockpiling" 

ahead of the scheduled date to leave the European Union at the end of 

March.        

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

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