Key Statistics: 2nd July 2013

Construction

• The British Bankers Association reported that gross mortgage lending in May was £8.6bn, up from £8.1bn in April and 7.5% above the average for the previous six months.
• The number of mortgage approvals for house purchase was 36.1k in May up from 32.9k in April, and above the average for the previous six months of 32.5k.
• The estimated fall in construction output during the first quarter of the year was revised by the ONS; a fall of 1.8% is now thought to have taken place from the final quarter of last year, whereas a fall of 2.4% was previously estimated.
• House prices as measured by the Nationwide continued to increase in June, up 0.3% compared to May this year or 1.9% compared to June 2012.

UK Economy

• The ONS left its estimate of GDP growth in the first quarter of the year unchanged at 0.3% from the final quarter of last year. However large revisions were made to the historic GDP data that estimates the recession experienced by the country since 2008 to be deeper and more pronounced than previously estimated. 
• The new estimates now put the economy 3.9% below the pre-recession peak in the first quarter of 2008, whereas previously the economy was believed to be only 2.6% below this peak.
• The one piece of positive news that came from the revisions was the disappearance of the country’s double dip recession, GDP between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012 is now thought to have been flat, rather than the 0.1% contraction previously estimated.  
• Manufacturing activity in June as measured by the CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers Index increased by the greatest amount in two years in June, the PMI increased to 52.5 in June from 51.5 in May this year, any reading above 50 indicates growth.
• The index of services produced by the ONS increased by 2% in April compared to April 2012, increases across all subsectors of the service industry were recorded.
• The nation’s current account deficit widened in the first quarter of the year to £14.5bn up from £13.6 in the final quarter of last year. The trade deficit narrowed to £6.1bn from £8.3bn in the final quarter of last year. 
• The current account for the full year 2012 was £59bn up from £23bn in 2011. The dramatic widening in the current account last year is largely due to a shift in the income surplus of £23bn in 2011 to a deficit of £2bn in 2012. The shift in income comes as a result of decreased earnings from private non-financial corporations over the year.