Delicate balance

By Sumeet Desai

LONDON (Reuters) - The global economy's delicate balance was clear on Friday as data showed the slowest UK growth in three years and a 10-year inflation peak in Japan, with only a surprise rise in U.S. durable goods orders beating the gloom.

The contrasting fortunes shown by the figures pointed up the quandary facing central bankers around the world as they try to check surging inflation pressures without choking off growth.

Britain's were the first G7 GDP figures for the April-June period, and the slowdown there may be a taste of things to come as the global economy buckles under the weight of soaring oil prices and a credit crunch.

In Japan, after years of the country battling deflation, core inflation hit its highest level in more than a decade because of a huge jump in energy and processed food costs.

At the same time, exports in the trading nation fell in June for the first time in nearly five years, in another example of the toxic mix of high inflation and slow growth most developed economies are facing.

However, there were signs of economic resilience in the United States where new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods increased unexpectedly in June on a surge in defence orders, while a gauge of business investment also was higher than forecast.

Durable goods orders were up 0.8 percent after a revised 0.1 percent gain in May. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting durable goods orders to slip 0.3 percent.

British GDP rose by just 0.2 percent in the three months to June, the weakest rate since 2005, as housebuilding slumped.