The jet streaks across the sky over Regent Street on February 15, 2024 in London, England.
Dan Kitwood | Getty Images
LONDON – The United Kingdom's gross domestic product rose 0.1% in February, marking another sign of a return to sluggish economic growth this year, the Office for National Statistics said Friday.
On a monthly basis, this figure is consistent with expectations in a Reuters poll. On an annual basis, GDP decreased by 0.2%.
The economy contracted in the third and fourth corners of 2023, putting the UK into a technical recession.
January recorded slight growth, which was revised up to 0.3% on Friday.
Construction production, which fueled growth at the start of the year, fell 1.9% in February. Instead, production output was the biggest contributor to GDP, rising 1.1% in February, while growth in the UK's dominant services sector slowed to 0.1% from 0.3%.
The reading “confirms the end of the recession” last year, Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.
“But while we expect a better economic recovery than most, we doubt it will be strong enough to prevent inflation (and interest rates) from falling further as they appear to be happening in the US,” Dills added.
Britain's inflation rate fell more than expected in March, reaching its lowest level in two-and-a-half years at 3.4%.
However, in the US, rate hikes came in above expectations at 3.5%, dampening expectations for the start of interest rate cuts until September.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated soon.
