EEF NW comment on GDP data

Commenting on today’s GDP data, David Ost, North West Region Director at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “These revisions bring better news for manufacturing with stronger growth in the first half of this year and the biggest increase in output in the second quarter for almost three years.

"With industry surveys also on the up, the prospects for the remainder of this year look better than we’ve seen for a number of years.

“Less positive, however, was the downgrade to business investment, which fell by nearly 3% in the second quarter. This again highlights the rebalancing challenge for the UK economy. But if confidence is beginning to return, we should expect business investment follow. “