Economy weakest since 1992
The economy unexpectedly ground to a halt in the second quarter, its weakest performance since the recession of the early 1990s, revised official data showed on Friday.
Brown says judge me on my recordThe Office for National Statistics said GDP was unchanged on the quarter in the three months to June, down from a preliminary estimate of 0.2 percent growth and below analysts' forecasts for a revision to 0.1 percent growth.
That was the weakest since the second quarter of 1992 when the economy was in the throes of its last recession and the figures are likely to boost expectations that interest rates will need to prevent a deep and protracted slowdown.
However, Bank of England policymakers are already factoring in the economy standing still over the next year or so and have said growth needs to slow to tame inflationary pressures.
Still, Prime Minister Gordon Brown will no longer be able to boast of the economy growing continuously since the Labour government came to power in 1997.
On the year, GDP was 1.4 percent higher, revised down from an initial reading of 1.6 percent and the weakest since Q4 1992.
The downward revisions to the preliminary estimate of GDP were across the board. Britain's mighty services sector grew by just 0.2 percent on the quarter, its poorest showing since the fourth quarter of 1995.
Manufacturing output fell by 0.8 percent on the quarter, the weakest since the first quarter of 2005. Construction output, which has been hard hit by the housing market slump, fell by 1.1 percent on the quarter - the worst since Q3 2005.
Household spending fell 0.1 percent on the quarter, its weakest since the second quarter of 2005.
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