Weekly Economic Briefings - Uk Weekly Economic Briefing

Weekly Economic Briefings - Uk Weekly Economic Briefing

The final PMIs of 2017 continued the pattern of manufacturing strength but construction and services weakness. The relative sizes of the sectors has meant that this combination has weighed on the pace of GDP growth. With service sector new business slowing and consumers’ appetite to borrow diminishing, the economy will struggle to break out of this pattern in the near-term. Therefore, though historical data revisions have lifted the likely 2017 outturn for GDP growth from 1.5% to 1.8%, we continue to anticipate sluggish growth of just 1.5% in 2018.