UK economy shrinks for second month, contracting 0.1% in October

• Britain’s economy contracted unexpectedly in October, according to data from the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics.
• GDP fell by 0.1%, the latest print showed, marking the second consecutive monthly downturn.
• The British pound was trading lower against the dollar Friday morning.

The U.K. economy contracted unexpectedly in October, according to data from Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Gross Domestic Product fell by an estimated 0.1% on a monthly basis, the ONS said Friday, with officials attributing the downturn to a decline in production output. Economists polled by news agency Reuters had projected a 0.1% rise in GDP in October.

It marked the country’s second consecutive economic downturn, following a 0.1% GDP decline in September.

Real GDP is estimated to have grown 0.1% in the three months to October, the ONS said, compared to the previous three months ending in July.

Sterling declined on the back of the disappointing print, trading 0.3% lower against the U.S. dollar at $1.2627 by 7:45 a.m. London time.

In a statement on Friday, U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves conceded that the October figures were “disappointing,” but defended the government’s divisive economic strategies.  

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