LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy shrank by 2.6% in November, the first monthly fall in output since the country was under its initial COVID lockdown last April as new restrictions were imposed to slow the spread of the disease.
However, the scale of the decline was much smaller than most analysts expected – a Reuters poll had pointed to a 5.7% contraction.
Britain’s economy is now 8.5% smaller than it was before the start of the coronavirus pandemic in February.
“Many businesses adjusted to the new working conditions during the pandemic … while schools also stayed open, meaning the impact on the economy was significantly smaller in November than during the first lockdown,” ONS statistician Darren Morgan said.
The Bank of England had estimated Britain’s economy would shrink by just over 1% over the final three months of 2020.
With a new lockdown in place since January the country is still at risk of falling into a double-dip recession.
The BoE ramped up its bond-buying programme to almost 900 billion pounds ($1.23 trillion) in November and Governor Andrew Bailey said this week that it was too soon to say if further stimulus would be needed.
Friday’s data showed Britain’s economy in November was 8.9% smaller than a year earlier, a smaller drop than the 12.1% fall forecast in a Reuters poll. In October the economy had been 6.8% smaller than a year before.
At its lowest point in April, when many businesses closed temporarily, output was a record 25% below its year-ago level.
November’s downturn was led by the services sector, where output fell 3.4% from October as pubs, restaurants, non-essential shops and many other consumer services businesses had to shut as part of a four-week lockdown in England and similar measures in other parts of the United Kingdom.
($1 = 0.7316 pounds)
(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Kate Holton and William Schomberg)
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
