GDP numbers for this quarter contracted by 0.6%, less than the anticipated 0.7%. Analysts and some government officials are taken this a sign of recovery, a weak sign, but a sign nevertheless. Taken into account with the rise in the savings rate (5.6% vs 3.9%) it could reduce the pace of the recovery as Stephanie Flanders from the BBC points out:
Although this was a necessary and welcome adjustment, given the levels of personal debt seen in recent years, it could affect the strength of any recovery.
“Obviously, that extra saving is money that isn’t being spent in the shops,”
