December’s cancellations and caution likely to be short lived

Commenting on this morning’s ONS data that showed GDP fell by 0.2% in December 2021, Kitty Ussher, Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors, commented:

“The story of December was one of cancellations and caution, as consumers jettisoned their plans to avoid bringing Covid home for Christmas. Today’s data shows the impact of this screeching halt to festive cheer, with consumer-facing services down 3% in December compared to the previous month. Possibly ironically, one of the most buoyant contributions to economic activity was the vaccination and Test and Trace programmes.

“We know from our own data, however, that caution over Omicron among business leaders eased in January, so we are hopeful that next month’s data will see growth rising again.”