British economy stalls in July: ONS

The flat reading followed 0.4 percent growth in June, underscoring a slowdown in economic momentum.

LONDON, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Britain's real gross domestic product (GDP) showed no growth in July, with a sharp downturn in manufacturing dragging on output, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Friday.

The flat reading followed 0.4 percent growth in June, underscoring a slowdown in economic momentum.

Among the three main sectors, production output fell 0.9 percent, reversing a 0.7 percent gain in June.

Within production, manufacturing output dropped 1.3 percent, the ONS said, pointing to broad-based weakness across manufacturing industries as the main driver of the decline.

By contrast, services and construction output inched up 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

ONS also noted that the country's real GDP went up 0.2 percent in the three months to July compared with the three months to April.

Stuart Morrison, research manager at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the data showed the economy had "a subdued summer, with limited growth in the three months to July, and zero-percent growth in July alone."

"The business landscape remains challenging, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, with cost pressures impacting investment, recruitment and trade," Morrison said.

He added that stubborn inflation is keeping borrowing costs high, making further interest rate cuts likely to proceed more slowly than expected. ■