UK Q2 business investment fall biggest in 24 yrs

Business investment in Britain fell 10.4 percent in the second quarter of this year compared with the first, the steepest drop since 1985, preliminary official data showed on Thursday. Compared with a year ago, investment fell 18.4 percent, the biggest drop since records began in 1967, the Office for National Statistics said, taking total business investment to 29.894 billion pounds.

The records excluded a blip in the data in 2005 due to the reclassification of British Nuclear Fuels as a government department.

Firms have had to cut back on spending to cope with a sharp downturn in demand and difficulties in getting credit, leading to falling investment and job cuts.

Investment fell across all sectors of the economy in the second quarter. The decline was particularly marked in manufacturing, where it was down 17.7 percent compared with the first three months of this year and 18.4 percent lower on the year.