LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1 percent in February monthly, mainly driven by a large decrease in the construction sector, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Thursday.
"Construction saw a notable fall in February, as wet weather and flooding hampered housebuilding," said Rob Kent-Smith, head of GDP in the ONS.
Data showed that the British GDP grew by 0.1 percent in the three months to February 2020, compared with the previous three months (from September to November 2019), with the services sector being the only positive contribution to the growth.
"Today's figures show that in the three months to February, which was before the full effects of coronavirus took hold, the economy continued to show little to no growth," Kent-Smith said.
As the coronavirus outbreak has significantly impacted the economy since March, the British government declared a "moment of national emergency" and urged people to stay at home to curb the spread of COVID-19. Given all that, analysts warned the British economy would slide to recession ahead.
Andrew Sentance, senior adviser to Cambridge Econometrics, an economics consultancy, tweeted Thursday that "UK GDP for Feb show a slight fall vs Jan. But we'll see a much bigger drop in March, with GDP down 3-5 pct. That would create a 1-1.5 pct GDP drop in Q1 followed by a much bigger fall (10 pct plus) in Q2."
"We are already in recession, which won't end until the lockdown is eased," added Sentance.
Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY ITEM Club, an economics forecasting group, said on twitter that "We suspect UK GDP could have contracted by up to 5 pct in March as coronavirus took hold; consequently we expect GDP contraction of around 1.3 pct quarter-on-quarter over the first quarter. We are expecting contraction around 13 pct q/q (quarter-on-quarter) in Q2 before recovery can hopefully begin in Q3."
During Wednesday's Downing Street daily press briefing, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic could have a "significant impact" on the British economy.
"I have been very honest that this will have a significant impact on our economy," he said, adding that the government had put in place "an enormous amount of support to help as many people as possible to get through this."
Among other measures, the government has launched schemes with more than 330 billion pounds (411.5 billion U.S. dollars) of loans and guarantees to help firms keep operating amid the pandemic, promising to cover 80 percent of wages -- up to 2,500 pounds (3,117.7 dollars) a month -- for employees who are unable to work during the pandemic.
