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GDP data 'difficult to take at face value'

The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) has argued that the latest figures on national gross domestic product are hard to take at face value.

They indicate that the UK economy contracted by 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, which means that the country is experiencing its longest double-dip recession in five decades.

General secretary of the Trades Union Congress Brendan Barber said that this shows the coalition's austerity measures are wiping out any chance of a sustainable recovery.

Chief economist of the EEF Lee Hopley acknowledged that the data appears to paint a very bleak picture of the state of the nation's finances.

She added that a contraction was expected - but the kind of scale it would be on was difficult to predict, especially based on the impact of a single event.

"Extended shutdowns over the bank holiday period will have hit output over the quarter, but as National Statistics points out we saw an even greater impact during the last jubilee a decade ago," Ms Hopley commented.ADNFCR-1898-ID-801416470-ADNFCR

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