UK Economy Shrinks In October

(RTTNews) - The UK economy contracted for the second straight month in October, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday.

Gross domestic product fell unexpectedly by 0.1 percent month-on-month in October, the same pace of drop as seen in September. GDP was forecast to grow 0.1 percent.

The monthly fall was driven by a 0.3 percent contraction in services and a 0.6 percent fall in construction. By contrast, industrial production grew 1.1 percent. On an annual basis, GDP was up 1.1 percent in October, which was weaker than forecast of 1.4 percent.

In the three months to October, real GDP was down 0.1 percent, following a 0.1 percent expansion in the three months to September.

Another data from ONS showed that the visible trade deficit widened to GBP 22.5 billion in October from GBP 18.9 billion in September. The deficit was expected to rise moderately to GBP 19.1 billion.

The surplus on trade in services totalled GBP 17.7 billion compared to GBP 17.8 billion in the previous month.

Due to the surge in visible trade gap, the total trade shortfall widened to GBP 4.8 billion from GBP 1.09 billion in September.