In London, on February 15, 2024, the sky over Regent Street was dotted with plane contrails. The plane contrails streaked across the sky creating a picturesque scene. The picturesque view was captured by Dan Kitwood of Getty Images.
The Office for National Statistics reported that the U.K. gross domestic product increased by 0.1% in February. This growth rate aligns with the projections made in a Reuters poll. However, on an annual basis, GDP was down by 0.2%. This increase in GDP is a positive sign for the U.K. economy which has been facing sluggish economic growth this year.
In the third and fourth quarters of 2023, the U.K. economy contracted resulting in a technical recession. January had recorded slight growth that was revised upwards to 0.3% on Friday. The construction output, which had initially boosted growth at the beginning of the year, decreased by 1.9% in February. On the other hand, production output contributed the most to GDP growth, rising by 1.1% in February.
The U.K.’s dominant services sector experienced a slowdown in growth, decreasing from 0.3% to just 0.1%. Analysts believe that these numbers indicate that the recession has come to an end. Paul Dales, chief U.K. economist at Capital Economics, said that while they anticipate a stronger economic recovery compared to other forecasts, it might not be strong enough to prevent inflation rates from falling further as seen in the U.S.
In March, British inflation unexpectedly dropped to 3.4%, marking a nearly two-and-a-half-year low. In contrast, U.S. saw price rises above expectations at 3.5%, pushing back expectations for interest rate cuts to September. This latest economic update is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.