Stagnant Investment, Weak Consumers Leave U.K. as G-7 Laggard
- Household spending barely increased due to fall in car sales
- Economy grew 0.3% in second quarter, in line with estimate
A pedestrian uses her mobile phone whilst carrying branded shopping bags inside the Westfield Stratford City shopping mall in London, U.K., on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. Overall Christmas shopping in the U.K. was similar to last year, according to the British Retail Consortium.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergU.K. consumer spending barely grew in the second quarter, business investment stagnated and trade added nothing to growth, leaving the economy struggling to keep up momentum.
The 0.1 percent increase in household expenditure was the weakest since 2014 and is a further sign of how support from the consumers is waning. Gross domestic product expanded 0.3 percent in the three-month period, unrevised from an initial estimate and leaving growth in the first half at its worst since 2012. It’s also the slowest among Group of Seven nations that have reported so far.