UK economy probably shrank for first time in seven years – Bloomberg Survey

The latest Bloomberg survey of economists showed that the UK economy probably shrank for the first time since 2012 in the second quarter of this year.

Key Findings:

“Official data this week is forecast by economists to show growth rebounded to 0.3% in May, after a contraction of 0.4% in April.

Still, such a reading would mean an expansion of 0.8% was needed in June just to return a flat result for the quarter as a whole, according to Bloomberg calculations.

The latest poll follows a dismal week of reports in the U.K., with Purchasing Managers’ Indexes showing the dominant services industry barely growing in June, and both construction and manufacturing sectors suffering outright contractions.

The worsening outlook, both at home and overseas, has also left investors and economists rewriting their calls for U.K. interest rates.”