UK experience weak exports
(11 August 2017 – United Kingdom) A disappointing performance for exports in June pushed the trade deficit higher than expected according to new data.
Manufacturing also stagnated in the month, while construction decreased, exasperating negativity as Britain looks towards Brexit in 2019.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported goods export volumes fell 4.9 percent in June, the biggest monthly fall since June 2016, while imports were up 1.5 percent. That fall left the goods trade balance for the month at £12.72 billion, higher than the £11 billion expected by market analysts.
Alarmingly, the ONS data shows manufacturing output has not grown in a single month this year.
Overall industrial output grew a better than anticipated 0.5 percent in June, driven by higher oil production.
Construction output is estimated to have fallen 0.1 percent in the month, following a larger 0.4 percent contraction in May.
The overall economy is estimated by the ONS to have grown by 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017 down from a 0.7 percent growth in the final quarter of 2016, however a slight improvement on the 0.2 percent seen in the first quarter.
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