On March 31, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the United Kingdom (U.K.). The outlook is stable. The full analysis on the U.K. was published on RatingsDirect, Standard&Poor's Web-based credit analysis system, on March 31, 2005. The U.K. recorded its 13th year of uninterrupted annual economic growth in 2004. In this extended period, the growth performance has outshone that of its 'AAA' rated peers, with the U.K. proving more successful at weathering the global economic downturn at the start of the current decade. That said, whereas past performance has been driven by job growth, bringing the unemployment rate down to historical lows, future growth will increasingly need
