David Madden of CMC Markets commented on the slump saying:
“The preliminary reading of fourth-quarter GDP will be published at 7 am (U.K. time), economists are expecting to see 0.5% on a quarterly basis, which would be a big fall from the 16% growth registered in the third quarter.”
“Services account for approximately 70% of the UK’s economic output. The services PMI levels in October, November, and December were 51.4, 47.6, and 49.4 respectively. A reading below 50.0 means negative growth. Clearly, tougher restrictions introduced from November onwards dented the all-important industry. Given the uncertainty that existed in relation to the U.K-EU trading relationship at the back end of 2020, there could have been stockpiling of goods.” He added.
United Kingdom restrictions have no end date
As of this writing, the United Kingdom recorded over 4 million corona-virus cases, while the death toll surpassed 115,000. According to Johns Hopkins University, the country’s high contaminations and deaths are caused by the more contagious virus variant.
