Surprise upgrade
Britain’s first-quarter GDP growth was revised up, according to latest data from Office for National Statistics (ONS), raising hopes of a second-quarter pick-up after a sluggish start to 2018.Britain’s economy as a whole grew 0.2 per cent on a quarterly basis in the first three months of 2018.
Following the surprise upgrade, the pound has jumped 0.7 per cent against the dollar to $1.3169.
ONS head of GDP Rob Kent-Smith added: “GDP growth was revised up slightly in the first three months of 2018, with later construction data, and significantly improved methods for measuring the sector, nudging up growth.
“These improved methods, introduced as part of ONS’s annual update to its figures, will lead to better early estimates of the construction sector with smaller revisions in the future.
“Overall, households were borrowers at the beginning of 2018 and for the sixth consecutive quarter, as households continued to face increasing prices, squeezing their budgets.
“Investment by both local and central government and the private sector fell, with spending on buildings, machinery and software all seeing notable falls.”
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