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The tales that matter on cash and politics within the race for the White Home
The UK financial system grew 0.6 per cent within the second quarter, in a marginal slowdown from the strong development of the earlier three months.
The quarter-on-quarter change within the GDP determine from the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics on Thursday in contrast with 0.7 per cent development within the first three months of the yr and was consistent with economists’ expectations.
Month-to-month GDP development was zero in June following a 0.4 per cent growth in Might, the ONS mentioned. The determine was consistent with analysts’ expectations.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has positioned development on the centre of his financial agenda since taking workplace final month, promising to “take the brakes off Britain”.
The UK financial system entered a technical recession on the finish of final yr after being hit by excessive inflation and borrowing prices. Nonetheless, it returned to development this yr, helped by stronger family spending as value pressures and mortgage charges declined.
In August, the Financial institution of England upgraded its GDP development forecast for this yr to 1.25 per cent from simply 0.5 per cent owing to stronger-than-expected exercise within the first half of the yr. It expects quarterly GDP development to fall again to 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent within the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
The UK’s GDP determine for the three months to June compares with a 0.3 per cent growth within the Eurozone and 0.7 per cent development within the US.
Liz McKeown, ONS director of financial statistics, mentioned: “The UK economy has now grown strongly for two quarters, following the weakness we saw in the second half of last year.
“Growth across the three months was led by the service sector, where scientific research, the IT industry and legal services all did well,” she added.
Responding to the GDP knowledge, chancellor Rachel Reeves mentioned the federal government was “under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge we have inherited after more than a decade of low economic growth”.
“We are taking the tough decisions now to fix the foundations, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off,” she added.
It is a growing story
