The United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics recently reported the country's preliminary Gross Domestic Product, which stood 15.5 percent in the third quarter (quarter-to-quarter) after dropping by 19.8 percent in the previous quarter. The figure was below the surveyed analysts' expectations, who foresaw a 15.8 percent gain. In yearly terms, the Gross Domestic Product dropped by 9.6 percent in the third quarter, worse than analysts' predictions of 9.4 percent, though better than the previous quarter's 21.5 percent.
Industrial production figures were also published. In monthly terms, industrial production climbed by 0.5 percent in September, less than expected but better than the previous month's 0.3 percent. In yearly terms, it dropped by 6.3 percent, worse than expected but slightly better than August's 6.4 percent drop. Manufacturing production gained 0.2 percent in September (month-to-month), worse than August's 0.9 percent climb and below the analysts' expectations, who foresaw a 1 percent surge. In yearly terms, manufacturing production went down by 7.9 percent, better than the previous month's -8.3 percent, but worse than analysts' expectations of a 7.4 percent drop.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey commented that this data was in line with their projections, highlighting that the country has had a strong uneven recovery, though there is still a massive gap that needs to be filled. Further commenting on recent news about a coronavirus vaccine, Bailey said that despite such news being very encouraging and reducing uncertainty, the bank must proceed with caution given that vaccine trials are still going on.
UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak explained that the economy was recovering during the summer, but started to slow down during the autumn given the government's late efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
“Steps we’ve had to take since to halt the spread of the virus mean growth has likely slowed further since then,” he said, adding that there are still hard times ahead.
By 8:59 GMT the pound sterling went down by 0.24 percent, going down to the 1.3190 level.