EEF NW comment on GDP

Darrell Matthews

Commenting on today’s GDP figures, Darrell Matthews, Region Director for the North West at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “Good economic news continued in the last three months of 2013 giving the UK its first four-quarter run of growth in over three years.

"GDP maintained a healthy pace of expansion with the ONS estimate of 0.7% growth coming a touch lower than expectations, mainly due to a small drop in construction.

“Taken together with upbeat business surveys the hiccough in the notoriously volatile construction figures should be a short term interruption in what has been a trend of positive data across all major economic segments in the previous couple of quarters.

"Indeed Q4 manufacturing growth of 0.9% was bang in line with expectations and survey reports of a strong pick up in production and orders through the final months of last year.

"Looking to the year ahead, a decent demand outlook at home and steady growth in markets overseas should see industry maintain a robust pace of growth in 2014.”