LONDON – The UK's gross domestic product grew by 0.2% in January, with construction output jumping more than expected, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.
The headline figure was in line with expectations of economists polled by Reuters.
This follows a 0.1% contraction in December, while the British economy entered a shallow recession in the second half of last year.
The Office for National Statistics said construction production rebounded from the contraction to grow 1.1% in January, but fell 0.9% over three months. The UK's dominant services sector rose 0.2% in January, providing the largest contribution to growth, as production output fell 0.2%.
Despite recording monthly growth, GDP contracted by 0.3% compared to a year ago in January, and fell by 0.1% in the three months to January 2024.
Jack Menning, chief UK economist at Barclays, described the figures as “not a very positive picture, but it is ahead of where we were at the end of last year.”
“Industrials and manufacturing have been weak over the last few prints, and you would expect some bounce back from that eventually,” Manning told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday.
“It's good to see this, but we'll have to see it on a longer basis to know it's something sustainable.”
James Smith, developed markets economist at ING, said the latest figures were consistent with expectations of a “gradual recovery in activity” in the coming months.
“We believe the fourth-quarter GDP decline, which represents the second straight quarter of negative growth and thus technical stagnation, is unlikely to be repeated in the first quarter of 2024,” Smith said in a note.
the British pound It was a little less expensive U.S. dollar And the euro After release.
