Surprise GDP fgures

Dr Brian Sloan, Chief Economist at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Commenting on today’s GDP figures, Dr Brian Sloan, Chief Economist at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “The scale of the economy’s contraction has taken everyone by surprise, with output falling 0.7% in the second quarter. Looking over the figures there is no good news and the construction sector’s woes continue.

“As a region, with the exception of construction, we remain confident that export demand and the recent increase in employment suggest that the North West is performing better than the nation as a whole.

"What these figures do show is that the Government and Bank of England have ignored our warnings that policy has left the domestic economy exposed and more should have been done to support growth, especially in the construction sector.

“Recent announcements on infrastructure have come at a time when the Government had no option but to act and raise grave concerns about the longer term plan to get the country back on a sustainable growth path or any attempt to avoid the permanent damaging effects of recessionary periods to an economy.

"Of course many will point to the extra Bank Holiday, but this does not account for such a poor performance this quarter.”