UK Economy In Recession, Polish Retail Sales Up 10.7%

Arthi Gupta
25 Apr, 2012
New York City

UK economy slipped back into second recession in less than five years after the economy shrank in the first quarter on sharp decline in construction and a weakness in the service sector. Polish retail sales increased 10.7% and unemployment declined to 13.3%.

[R]1:00 PM London – UK economy slipped back into second recession in less than five years after the economy shrank in the first quarter on sharp decline in construction and a weakness in the service sector. Polish retail sales increased 10.7% and unemployment declined to 13.3%.[/R]

UK GDP Contracts

The UK economy unexpectedly contracted for the second quarter in a row in the first quarter, the Office for National Statistics showed today.

Gross domestic product fell 0.2% in the first quarter following a 0.3% drop in the fourth quarter of 2011. The fall in real GDP was driven primarily by weakness in the construction sector.

Construction sector output fell 3% in the first quarter following a drop of 0.2% in the previous quarter. However, services output rose 0.1% in the first quarter offsetting a decrease of 0.1% in the prior quarter.

Output of the production industries dropped 0.4% in the first quarter after logging a decrease of 1.3% in the fourth quarter.

On a yearly basis, GDP remained flat in the first quarter.

Separately, the UK''s seasonally adjusted index of services decreased 0.4% on a monthly basis in February, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Service sector, largely dominated by financial services increased 0.1% in the first quarter after falling 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011 according to the latest data from the ONS.

Spanish PPI Eases

Spain''s producer price inflation eased to 3.3% annually in March from 3.4% in February, the statistics office INE said. However, monthly growth rose to 0.8% in March from 0.6% in February.

Annual increase in consumer goods prices slowed to 1.7% in March from 1.9% in February. Durable consumer goods price growth eased to 1.6% in March from 1.9% in February.

Polish Retail Sales Slows, Jobless Rate Falls

Poland''s retail sales increased 10.7% on an annual basis in March compared to the 13.7% growth recorded in February.

Sales of food, beverages and tobacco rose 9.8% annually, while clothing and footwear sales climbed 14.4% in March.

Separately, the agency said Poland''s unemployment rate declined 13.3% in March from 13.5% in February.