Total business investment falls in every quarter so far this year for the first time since 2009
Any optimism in the Q3 rebound has gone as quickly as it came about. The headline reading in the GDP figures show a bump to Q2 but when you just scroll a bit lower, the total business investment figures tell the whole story.
It is the first time since 2009 that the UK economy begins the year with three consecutive quarterly drops in total business investment and that highlights the sort of drag that Brexit uncertainty is having on the businesses and economy.
Q3 was more of an exception with consumption data helping to underpin the economy but that is just a one-off (stronger retail sales especially). Q4 is looking to reveal the true nature of where the economy is headed and the picture ain't pretty.
With Brexit already threatening to throw further chaos to the pound in the coming week, the cloudy economic outlook moving forward will only serve to work against the pound as well now. At this point, only a Brexit deal will be able to lift the pound back up as economic data will be of no help as we close out the year.
