This chart is easy to interpret: It says we're screwed

This is the worst chart we've seen so far about the coming Brexit recession:

cfo

HSBC

UK gross domestic product grew a higher-than-expected 2.2% in the second quarter, as announced Wednesday, but that number reflects the economy before the June 23 referendum on the UK's European Union membership. The lines above are from a more recent survey of chief financial officers at companies. It shows that 80% of CFOs think they will not be hiring in the next year and will not increase capital expenditure over the same period.

They are turning off the money taps, in other words.

The pro-Leave crowd thinks there isn't a problem. Here's the front page of The Daily Express, from Wednesday:

express

HSBC

Economists don't get their data from The Express, however. HSBC analyst Elizabeth Martins, who produced the above chart, said in a note to investors on Wednesday that people who think this week's rosy GDP number means that life after the British exit from the EU will get better are delusional, because they're looking at what already happened and not what is ahead:

"The [GDP] data suggest that worries over an uncertainty-led slowdown ahead of the June referendum were unfounded — and will undermine any claims that an H2 downturn was already in the pipeline regardless of the Brexit vote. However, the backward looking data have little to tell us about the policy and growth outlook from here. Early indications suggest a sharp slowdown in Q3."

Yikes.

See Also:

• What analysts are saying about the UK's latest awful post-Brexit economic data

• An influential think-tank says Brexit means there is now a 50/50 chance of a recession

• If you're a Leave voter, you're about to get exactly what you asked for

SEE ALSO: Pollsters now know why they were wrong about Brexit