Business investment in the UK went up in the second quarter
Business investment in the UK increased between April and June this year, the latest Office for National Statistics data shows.
Compared to the same period last year, business investment rose 2.5 per cent to £45.6bn, meaning firms bought more non-financial assets like machinery and property than they did last year.
It also edged up on the previous quarter, increasing 0.5 per cent.
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This contributed to overall year-on-year growth of 2.4 per cent in the UK’s gross fixed capital formation (GFCF).
On a quarter by quarter basis, GFCF rose 0.6 per cent, with general government investment up 6.1 per cent.
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More investment was put into ICT equipment and other machinery and equipment during the period, marking a jump of 8.1 per cent to £13.9bn.
But less investment in transport and buildings dragged the average growth down, while intellectual property products remained flat.
GFCF is now 6.1 per cent above pre-crash levels, and 35.7 per cent above levels seen at the financial crisis.
But business investment annual growth has been slowing since 2014. In 2016 investment actually shrank 0.4 per cent, marking the weakest growth since 2009, though this is a revised figure. Previously published estimates put decline at 1.5 per cent between 2015 and 2016.
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