- Oil prices tumble on easing Middle East fears
- Oil prices hit by easing Middle East fears, most Asian markets rise
- Hopes pinned on peace across Taiwan Strait after drills
- Belgian pathologist and literary star gives 'voice to the dead'
- East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote
- Oil prices drop on easing fears over Middle East, most markets rise
- Reoxygenating oceans: startups lead the way in Baltic Sea
- King Charles III heads to Australia and Commonwealth meeting
- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
UK economy falters as outlook darkens
The UK economy shrank in May on an extra public holiday for the coronation of King Charles III, official data showed Thursday, and as high inflation prolongs a cost-of-living crisis.
The outlook darkened as the government's fiscal watchdog warned public debt -- already ballooning on pandemic spending and energy subsidies -- would rocket further in the coming decades.
Gross domestic product slid 0.1 percent in May after rising 0.2 percent the previous month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Output slid as businesses downed tools for the extra holiday, but the performance beat market expectations for a deeper decline of 0.3 percent.
"GDP fell slightly as manufacturing, energy generation and construction all fell back with some industries impacted by one fewer working day than normal," said ONS economic statistics director Darren Morgan.
- Hot inflation -
Activity remains under strain also from aggressive interest-rate hikes as the Bank of England's (BoE) attempts to dampen hot consumer prices.
UK annual inflation unexpectedly held at 8.7 percent in May.
The BoE has ramped up interest rates 13 times in a row to the current level of five percent, in turn increasing commercial loan costs for businesses and consumers.
"While an extra bank holiday had an impact on growth in May, high inflation remains a drag anchor on economic growth," noted finance minister Jeremy Hunt.
"The best way to get growth going again and ease the pressure on families is to bring inflation down as quickly as possible."
The government has sought to fend off high-pay demands from public sector workers, notably health staff and teachers who have carried out vast strike action this year.
The government, however, announced Thursday it had accepted recommendations from independent pay review bodies for salary increases of between 5.0 and 7.0 percent in the public sector.
The ONS added Thursday that the economy was just 0.2-percent larger than its pre-pandemic level, meaning it has almost flatlined over the past four years.
- 'Listless' -
"May's GDP figures demonstrate that the economy remains listless and that the recovery signalled by many of the business surveys... has not taken hold yet," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"Looking ahead, we continue to think that the economy will regain a little momentum in the second half of this year, led by a pick-up in households' real expenditure."
June inflation data is slated for publication next Wednesday, amid heightened concern over the ongoing squeeze on living standards.
Separately, the UK government's Office for Budget Responsibility warned the public purse faced a "very risky" period owing to an array of negative factors.
UK state debt had in May exceeded 100 percent of GDP for the first time since 1961, slammed by fallout from Covid, the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis.
M.P.Jacobs--CPN