The tide of poor economic data seems to have no end in sight in the UK.
Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that industrial production in the UK fell at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.2% on the month (-2.9% on the year) in January.
UK manufacturing output was even weaker, contracting at a 1.5% month-on-month pace. In comparison, production a year ago was 3.0% lower.
In addition, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimates that the UK economy contracted by 0.1% in the three months to February. If this decline continues throughout this quarter, the UK will officially be in a triple-dip recession as the last quarter of 2012 saw a 0.3% contraction.
Analysts are widely forecasting a strong rise in inflation when the latest data is released next week, giving rise to the spectre of a ‘stagflation’ scenario which last hit the UK in the 1970’s.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE) reported yesterday that unemployment among its 34 member countries rose in January as unemployment in the euro zone reached a new record high. The OECD reported an increase to 8.1% in January 2013 in the unemployment rate, compared with 8.0% in the previous month with the rate in the euro zone hitting a new record high at 11.9%.
The unemployment rate also rose by 0.1% in the US to reach a level of 7.9% while it fell by 0.1% in Canada to 7.0% and 4.2% in Japan.
The OECD noted that “trends in unemployment rates have differed across population groups since the beginning of the financial and economic crisis”.
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