Subscribe to The Money StopNews Feed

Browse > Home / News, News-Credit-Cards / Slowing of consumer spending is “worrying”

Slowing of consumer spending is “worrying”

February 29, 2008 by admin  
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards

Leave a Comment

Despite the economy growing by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, consumer spending slowed dramatically, according to new figures.

Findings from the (ONS) showed that increases in household expenditure fell to 0.2 per cent, a drop from the 0.9 per cent previously seen in the last quarter and the weakest growth since 2006.

Speaking to theherald.co.uk, Howard Archer, chief UK economist at consultancy Global Insight, said that the breakdown of the ONS’ data was worrying.

“The faltering in consumer spending, business investment and exports in the fourth quarter increases concerns that UK growth will slow markedly in 2008 and increases pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates again sooner rather than later,” he said.

According to the figures, business investment and exports also faltered at the end of last year, declining by 0.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, Tim Besley, member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, told the Daily Mail that a reduction in the rate of consumer spending was worrying.

Tags: Daily Mail, england, Business Finance, Global Insight, UK growth, Office for National Statistics, drop, chief UK economist

Tags:

Related Entries

  • Housing market slowing down
    • House prices in the UK are increasing in price at the slowest rate they have all year.The Halifax House Price Index shows that properties increased in value by 0.3 per cent in May, signalling the
  • Many Brits too scared to spend
    • It has been revealed in a recent report that many people in Britain are too scared to spend money, with a third of Brits having scared themselves into spending less. Seven in ten consumers have told
  • Consumer spending hits fresh lows
    • Recently released figures have shown that consumer spending in the UK has hit fresh lows, with household spending falling to its lowest level since 1980. In the first quarter of this year the British economy contracted
  • Pay rises make us worse off
    • That pay rise you have been pining for may make you worse off financially.It may sound silly but, according to Prudential, many of us find that we actually suffer financially as a result of a
  • Rics: House rise growth ‘weak’ after rate rise
    • House price growth is slowing, figures released today suggest.The monthly housing activity report of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) shows overall rates of inflation being cut in half across much of England and
  • 7 percent fall expected in Christmas spending overall
    • According to recently released figures an overall fall of around 7 percent is expected in Christmas spending for this year, as consumers continue to try and cut back on their expenditure. The cutbacks will be
  • Were we already spending less on luxuries before the credit crunch?
    • Every week there seems to be some report or another stating how spending levels on luxuries such as holidays has plummeted since the onset of the global credit crunch, and indeed the financial situation and
  • Brits’ confusion over interest rates ‘worrying’
    • It is "worrying" how few people in the UK fully comprehend the impact of rising interest on their mortgage repayments, said CreditExpert.According the credit report monitoring service's Personal Credit Index survey, as many as 70

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!