The UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics’s latest report. December, when the economy expanded by 0.4 per cent (the market consensus had been 0.1 per cent), was the saving grace. This helped tip the final quarter of 2024 onto the right side of positive growth. Talk of recession will quiet down, at least for now. But this morning’s update is not going to take anyone in No.10 or the Treasury off high-alert.
Monthly growth in December was stronger than expected, mainly thanks to a continued rise in services activity and a recovery in production from November. The positive growth figure reported for the final months of 2024 means the UK looks like it will avoid a technical recession anytime soon (the measurement being two consecutive quarters of negative growth).
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