In the News
UK GDP falls 20% in one month

12th June 2020
It really shouldn't come as a surprise that UK real GDP should collapse in this way because the shut-down was a deliberate act to protect public health.

But the scale of the decline in the value of output of goods and services is breath-taking. By the end of April 2020, real GDP was 25% below the level before the coronavirus pandemic took real hold.
More here from the economists at ING
Most sectors have been badly affected but the construction industry experienced a strong decline in output of 40.1% during April 2020. And of course retailers and many thousands of businesses in tourism and hospitality have seen an almost complete shut down. Only pharmaceutical production was up as economics students will readily explain!
We will curate in this blog initial responses to this dramatic macroeconomic news and we encourage you to follow the social media of some of the analysts selected.
We can expect a rebound in economic activity in May as lockdown is gradually relaxed. But how deep will the economic scarring effects be? This will be one of the dominant issues for policy makers to address in the months to come and I would argue that they need to be ambitious and inventive in stimulating a recovery built on jobs, environmental sustainability and driving innovation among smaller businesses.
UK economy shrinks by record 20% in April https://t.co/fLWmEFL7Ws
— FT Economics (@fteconomics) June 12, 2020
Britain's GDP falls 20.4% in April as economy is paralysed by lockdown https://t.co/ViQlGp7wna
— Guardian Business (@BusinessDesk) June 12, 2020
Being shocked by the drop in GDP is like being surprised that a patient in an induced coma is unconscious. Swathes of the most visible parts of our economy were forced to close: the question is how much emerges unscathed.
— Dharshini David (@DharshiniDavid) June 12, 2020
UK economy shrinks record 20.4% in April due to lockdown https://t.co/QjzXNgLxa1
— BBC World Business (@BBCWorldBiz) June 12, 2020
This is a great chart by my @ONS colleagues comparing the current downturn with the financial crisis/2008 recession. https://t.co/fbFdJ2QS7T pic.twitter.com/Jymgl6JuT8
— Jonathan Athow (@jathers_ONS) June 12, 2020
Americans saved 1/3 of their incomes—their highest saving rate ever.
— Linda Yueh (@lindayueh) June 11, 2020
People in Britain saved - the amount of cash stashed in bank deposits rose by £16.2bn in April, compared with an average monthly increase of £5bn in the six months to February. https://t.co/9cFLR9QR6Q
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