Building slump hits olympic growth

Crumbling activity in construction and manufacturing has become so bad that the feeble growth during the London Games is set to be officially cut back.

The gross domestic product (GDP) figure for July to September is set to be trimmed by the Office for National Statistics to 0.9 per cent from 1 per cent in its first estimate.

The initial estimate was the fastest rate of quarterly growth for five years but economists warned the figure was inflated by the Olympics.

And the growth figure for October to December is expected to be small following a series of surveys showing low confidence among business chiefs.

It means that Britain's economy is teetering on the edge of a triple-dip recession, forced to the edge by the Con-Dems' austerity assault.

Experts warned that the dire underlying picture remains the same, with the economy still far below its early 2008 peak.

IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer said: "It is looking increasingly questionable whether the economy will grow in the fourth quarter."

Ucatt general secretary Steve Murphy said: "This heralds more grim but not unexpected news for the construction industry.

"The government is the construction industry's largest client - its austerity programme has sucked money from the construction industry and has led to tens of thousands of redundancies.

"Construction is crying out for new investment, especially in social housing which would kickstart the industry and help get skilled construction workers back to work."