UK confirms economy at standstill

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UK confirms economy at standstill

The UK economy saw no growth in the second quarter of 2008, while the gap in the current account widened to its highest level in almost a year.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed economic output remained the same as in the first quarter, confirming previous estimates.

Growth was 0% in the second quarter - which was even lower than the 0.3% figure for the first quarter of 2008.

Some analysts think the Bank of England may cut interest rates as a result.

Output was revised up to 1.5% from a previous estimate of 1.4% year-on-year.

The new data takes into account improved methodology and was revised back to 1961. This adds £19.5bn to the 2007 gross domestic product (GDP) figures.

Full story, source: BBC

[Tiggs]

Mortgage lending dropped 95% last month. Standstill might be an understatement.

[stevewinn]

Mortgage lending dropped 95% last month. Standstill might be an understatement.

just shows the scale of the problem. am fecking made up its all going pear shaped for the Mortgage lenders, on their get rich quick by lending out money to people who should have never been approved for a mortgage in the first place. surely no-one is surprised this debt has caught up with us.

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in related news:

Financial crisis: Britons plundering their savings to stay afloat

Families borrowed more than they saved in the early months of this year as the credit crisis and soaring food and oil prices squeezed their incomes, official figures have showed.

By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor

Last Updated: 7:53PM BST 30 Sep 2008

The saving ratio, a measure of how much households put in their bank accounts, dropped into negative territory for the first time since 1958 - when Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister and the Soviets welcomed Sputnik back from orbit.

The ratio was -1.1 per cent in the first three months of the year - the lowest level since comparable records began in 1955, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The fall prompted warnings that the average consumer has overstretched themselves to such a degree that they are now being forced to borrow merely in order to keep their finances in order.

The ratio, which has achieved an average level of 7.8 per cent since the 1980s, was only slightly higher at 0.4 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

Charles Davis of the Centre for Economics and Business Research said: "The squeeze on real disposable incomes is clearly impacting households' capacity to put money aside. Going forward we expect this to change as the UK economy rebalances away from debt in the face of the credit crunch."

Alan Clarke of BNP Paribas added: "The point here is that households have been hit by the rising cost of living. At this stage, households have tended to continue to consume, financed by lower saving as real disposable income has fallen."

Families' disposable incomes are being squeezed by higher inflation on the one hand and by rising taxes on their earnings on the other.

Economists warned that although prices may start to moderate in the coming months, families will be hard hit by the effects of the credit crisis. The ONS also confirmed that the economy froze in the second quarter of the year.

Source: The Telegraph

[stevewinn]

lets hope the people do a "run on the bank" making the bank go bankrupt. fancy that, a bank going bankrupt. and if it creates the great depression mark II then so be it, these are our good old days, when where old an grey we'll look back at these days and maybe tell the grand kids, how we survived. great times lay ahead,

[Bill Hill]

you mean estate agents and bankers lose their jobs....

It's christmas..