Economic Indicators, June 2012

The revised estimate of quarterly GDP showed that the economy had contracted by 0.3% in Q1 2012, following a 0.3% decline in Q4 2011. A major contributor to the contraction in GDP was the construction sector, in which output decreased by 4.8%. Several surveys of sentiment among manufacturing businesses have reported big falls in confidence in the past month. Meanwhile, some labour market indicators have been more positive, with employment rising by 105,000 in the most recent quarter, the biggest quarterly rise since March 2011.