Economic Monitor
More contingency plans
GDP January data pointed to a recovery of the UK economy, but not strong enough to pull it out of its sluggishness. Month-on-month, the UK economy grew by 0.5% in January, rebounding from the fall of 0.4% in December. Over the three months to January, GDP increased by 0.2%. Services, production, manufacturing and construction all experienced positive month-on-month growth in January 2019 after contracting in December 2018. The global economic slowdown and political uncertainty impacted the car manufacturing sector particularly hard. And with surveys of different industries indicating that firms are considering moving their operations, partially or fully, in the EU in the case of a no-deal Brexit just confirms that investment is on hold until there is ground to form expectations about the future.