UK dodged recession despite economy not growing between July and September, new figures show
The UK economy stagnated over the latest quarter but surpassed the expectations of economists, Joel Hills has the latest
The UK economy did not grow between July and September but narrowly avoided a recession, according to the latest figures.
Despite stagnating, the UK economy performed better than expected in the third quarter of 2023, with economists previously forecasting a contraction of 0.2%.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics showed gross domestic product (GDP) - which measures the value of goods and services produced - actually grew by 0.2% in September, thanks to a boost from the film production, health and education industries.
Economics Editor Joel Hills on the UK's flatlining GDP figures
Economists said on Friday the UK looks likely to avoid a recession despite concerns over the impact of recent significant interest hikes taken by the Bank of England in a bid to quash inflation.
But Rishi Sunak is still a long way from achieving his goal of substantially growing the economy before the next general election.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, when asked by ITV News how long that would take, said he does not have a "crystal ball".
"All I can do is to make sure that we do the right things that mean that inflation does come down and that we remove the barriers that stop businesses growing and stop people finding jobs."
He said people would have to wait until his Autumn Statement in a fortnight before hearing his plans to further boost the economy.
'I don't have a crystal ball', Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said when asked when the economy will grow like Rishi Sunak promised
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.
“In the month of September the economy grew slightly, with increases in film production, health and education.
“This growth was partially offset by falls in retail and computer programming.”
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “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.”
Mr 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.”
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