Official figures show that over the last quarter the UK’s economy has stagnated, however this was better than expectations.
the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in the three months from July to September, gross domestic product (GDP) showed.
For the month of September analysts did predict a 0.2% fall for the quarter and a flat reading for the month.
In the month for September the ONS reported a 0.2% growth in the economy and revised down growth in August to 0.1% from 0.2% and there was a decline in July of 0.6%.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said, “High inflation is the single greatest barrier to economic growth.
“The best way to sustainably grow our economy right now is stick to our plan and knock inflation on its head.
“The Autumn Statement will focus on how we get the economy growing healthily again by unlocking investment, getting people back into work and reforming our public services so we can deliver the growth our country needs.”
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “These figures are further evidence that the economy is not working under the Conservatives and working people are worse off.”
ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: “The economy is estimated to have shown no growth in the third quarter.
“Services dropped a little with falls in health, management consultancy and commercial property rentals.
“These were partially offset by growth in engineering, car sales and machinery leasing.”
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “The economy narrowly avoided contracting in Q3, and we continue to think that it can maintain this resilient performance in Q4.
“We continue to think that the chances of a recession look low; we look for a 0.3% quarter-on-quarter increase in GDP in Q4 and expect that pace to be broadly maintained next year.”
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