Economic Indicators, December 2012
This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries.
The second release of GDP data for Q3 2012 left unchanged the preliminary estimate of 1% growth in the economy - the largest quarterly rise since Q3 2007. The ONS commented that the reduction in working days (due to the Diamond Jubilee) in the second quarter of 2012 and the hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the third quarter of 2012 may explain why growth seems so buoyant compared with previous quarters. The unemployment rate fell to 7.8% and employment grew to 29.6 million over the quarter to September.
CPI inflation rose slightly to 2.7% in October, up from the two year low of 2.2% recorded in September.