The second estimate of Britain’s GDP, which was published last week, showed that the country’s exports helped the economy register a growth during the first three months of 2011.

In fact, GDP growth during the quarter was confirmed at its initial estimate of 0.5%, with a 3.7% rise in exports helping to offset a 0.6% fall in consumer spending and a 4.4% drop in company investment.

The 0.5% growth follows a contraction of the same amount during the last three months of 2010, which means the UK economy has effectively stagnated over the six months to March.

On a more positive note, retail sales in the country increased by a more-than-expected 1.1% during April as favourable weather conditions and the Royal Wedding helped boost consumer spending.

Economists had expected a 0.8% rise on the month. From the same month a year earlier, sales grew by 2.8%.

Growth in the eurozone’s services sector slowed faster than expected this month while manufacturing also grew at a slower pace in May than expected.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys released on Monday showed that output from the services industry in the 17-nation region slowed to 55.4 versus 56.7 in April.

Markets were expecting growth to slow only marginally, to 56.5 for the month, as activity in Germany and France remained buoyant. May’s figure is the lowest level since last December, yet is the 21st month the index has been above the 50 level , which determines whether the sector is growing or contracting.

The manufacturing sector, meanwhile, expanded by 54.8, versus 58 in April, which was much lower than consensus expectations of 57.5. The eurozone composite PMI, a broader measure of the private sector which combines the services and manufacturing data, fell to 55.4 from 57.8, below economists’ forecasts of 57.3.

In the US, economic data came in weaker than expected as the second estimate of first-quarter GDP was unchanged at 1.8% on an annual basis, which was lower than the 2.2% expected by analysts.

This article was compiled by Bank of Valletta plc for general information purposes only.