The latest GDP statistics

The latest GDP statistics showed a decrease of 0.5% in the final quarter of 2010 which has surprised many given that further growth was expected. The Office of National Statistics stated that the decline was brought about by drops in services and construction and was significantly affected by the bad weather in December. Our own records support that suggestion in some part. For the period when the snow and ice hit the UK, broadly between 24th Novqember and the 24th December, we registered around a 4.8% drop in turnover nationwide as customers reduced their temporary staff levels. This of course is one of the key benefits of using us or one of our peers to provide a flexible workforce – the ability to reduce costs when unforeseen circumstances arise. Fortunately we are now seeing some recovery in levels of staff on hire to the UK construction industry back towards pre December 2010 levels and we hope that this is indicative of forthcoming construction industry performance in the first quarter of 2011. sean@mcginley.co.uk