NHS pay review body: twenty-sixth report 2012 - Official Documents
NHS pay review body: twenty-sixth report 2012 - Official Documents
NHS pay review body: twenty-sixth report 2012 - Official Documents
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Economy, Inflation, Labour Market and Earnings<br />
3.6<br />
24<br />
Our assessment below is based on the latest economic indicators available at the time of<br />
submission of this <strong>report</strong>.<br />
Economic Growth<br />
3.7<br />
3.8<br />
3.9<br />
GDP grew by 0.9% during 2011 (see Figure 3.6). This was substantially below the<br />
forecast made at the start of 2011. Recent economic forecasts saw a downgrading<br />
of growth expectations. The most recent set of forecasts from the Treasury panel<br />
of independent experts in January <strong>2012</strong>2 estimated GDP growth of 0.4% for <strong>2012</strong>,<br />
compared to a forecast of 2.1% in March 2011.<br />
This followed a substantial downgrading of growth expectations from the Office for<br />
Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) 3 in November 2011. It revised down its forecasts for GDP<br />
growth in <strong>2012</strong> to 0.7% from the 2.5% forecast in March 2011. It expected GDP to be<br />
broadly flat in the first half of <strong>2012</strong>, but to gain momentum gradually though the year<br />
assuming that the euro area found its way though the current crisis.<br />
Figure 3.6: GDP growth, 2006 to 2011 (chained volume measure at market prices)<br />
% change<br />
4<br />
2<br />
0<br />
-2<br />
-4<br />
-6<br />
-8<br />
Source: Office for National Statistics.<br />
2006Q1<br />
2006Q2<br />
2006Q3<br />
2006Q4<br />
2007Q1<br />
2007Q2<br />
2007Q3<br />
2007Q4<br />
2008Q1<br />
2008Q2<br />
Change from a year earlier<br />
2008Q3<br />
2008Q4<br />
2009Q1<br />
2009Q2<br />
2009Q3<br />
2009Q4<br />
2010Q1<br />
2010Q2<br />
2010Q3<br />
2010Q4<br />
2011Q1<br />
2011Q2<br />
2011Q3<br />
2011Q4<br />
Change from previous quarter<br />
The Bank of England also reduced its growth forecasts for <strong>2012</strong> significantly in its<br />
November 2011 inflation <strong>report</strong>, from 2.1% to 1.3%. In doing so, the Bank of England<br />
said that “the marked deterioration in the external environment, together with the<br />
domestic headwinds stemming from the fiscal consolidation and squeeze on households’<br />
real incomes, means that growth looks set to be weak in the near term. The recovery is<br />
likely to gather pace over the second and third years of the forecast as private demand<br />
picks up, supported by continuing stimulus from monetary policy and a gentle recovery<br />
in real incomes” 4 .<br />
2<br />
HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK Economy: A Comparison of Independent Forecasts, January <strong>2012</strong>. Available at: http://<br />
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/<strong>2012</strong>01forecomp.pdf.<br />
3<br />
Office for Budgetary Responsibility, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, November 2011. Available at: http://cdn.<br />
budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/Autumn2011EFO_web_version138469072346.pdf.<br />
4<br />
Bank of England, Inflation Report, November 2011.