NOT even Amazonian goddess Princess Diana of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta, better known as Wonder Woman, could rescue the British economy from the peril of sluggish growth.
According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) the blockbuster DC movie starring Gail Gadot helped shift huge amounts of cinema tickets, which along with tax relief on film production had led to an 8.2 per cent growth in motion pictures, making it the second biggest contributor to the services sector.
But not even the Justice League could do much to save GDP from Brexit. Growth for the UK edged up by 0.3 per cent, a slight improvement on the sluggish 0.2 per cent of the first quarter but far down on last year.
ONS said gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.3 per cent met with economists initial estimate for April to June. However, it was significantly down on the 0.7 per cent reached during the final three months of 2016.
Distribution, hotels and restaurants, which led the sector, expanded by 1.1 per cent over the period, adding 0.15 percentage points to GDP growth. But construction was down 0.9 per cent, and manufacturing down 0.5 per cent, holding back the economy, the ONS said.
Manufacturing in particular had been at 0.3 per cent growth in the first three months of the year, but a slowdown in motor vehicle production led to the decline.
Darren Morgan, ONS head of GDP, said: “The economy has experienced a notable slowdown in the first half of this year.
“While services such as retail and film production and distribution showed some improvement in the second quarter, a weaker performance from construction and manufacturing pulled down overall growth.”
Separate figures for Britain’s powerhouse services sector, which accounts for around 80 per cent of the UK economy, showed output grew by 0.2 per cent between April and May.
On an annual basis, GDP grew by 1.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2017, compared with the same period last year.
Sterling was down slightly against the dollar on the news, trading at $1.30.
The pound also fell against the euro following the release, but remained 0.1 per cent up on the day at €1.12.
Chancellor Philip Hammond welcomed the release, saying the UK economy had now grown for four and a half years.
“We can be proud of that, but we are not complacent,” he added.
“We need to focus on restoring productivity growth to deliver higher wages and living standards for people across the country.”
Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: “Growth for the first half of 2017 is below expectations, and it follows continued data showing working families are being squeezed with wages not keeping up with prices.”
Aberdeen Asset Management chief economist Lucy O’Carroll said: “This pick-up will be taken as good news, but it really doesn’t amount to much.
“The figures are the first estimate of growth, based on very patchy data. They always get revised over time, and often substantially so.
“It’s the underlying trends that matter. They don’t look favourable at the moment, given the uncertainties around Brexit and the pressure on household budgets from higher inflation.”
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