Boris Bounce stutters to a halt as surveys show economy flatlined in January
The economy flatlined in January as the much-anticipated ‘Boris bounce’ following the election failed to materialise.
Surveys suggested that the economy perked up at the start of 2020 as Boris Johnson’s victory boosted confidence.
As a result, analysts had expected the economy to grow by 0.2 per cent in January.
Surveys suggested that the economy perked up at the start of 2020 as Boris Johnson’s victory boosted confidence, but growth remained flat
But figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there was no growth in January, even before the impact of the coronavirus outbreak had been felt.
Deloitte economist Ian Stewart said: ‘It’s a disappointing start to the year ahead of the knock to growth from coronavirus.’
Ayush Ansal, at Crimson Black Capital, said: ‘The performance in January will feel almost irrelevant given the coronavirus-fuelled events of the past few days, but it’s not.
Weak GDP data suggests the UK is going into a period of potentially radical uncertainty with zero momentum.’
In the three months to January, GDP showed no overall growth.
Rob Kent-Smith, ONS head of GDP, said: ‘Growth in construction, driven by housebuilding, offset another decline in manufacturing, particularly the drinks, cars and machinery industries.
‘The dominant service sector showed no growth with falls in retail and telecoms balanced by strength in rentals, employment and education.’