Private wealth at risk as "drop in growth almost inevitable"?

Private wealth could be at risk of weakening economic recovery, as one expert warns growth is likely to contract in the third quarter of 2010.

Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First, was commenting on the final reading of gross domestic product for the second quarter of the year, which set expansion at 1.2 per cent.

The wealth management specialist argues the figure is "very reliant" on the relatively large increase - around 9.5 per cent - in spending on construction, which will not occur during the next three-month period.

Those with private wealth could find their income falls due to general slowing of the economy and poor retail sales, while the potential for rising unemployment might also dampen financial output.

Later today (September 28th) the US consumer confidence figures for September are due to be released, with an unexpected result likely to have significant consequences for markets in the UK, as the figures account for two-thirds of the country's economic activity. ADNFCR-2318-ID-800086330-ADNFCR