UK Economy Grows 0.1% in February, in Line with Forecast

The
UK
economy
grew
in
line
with
expectations
in
February,
according
to
numbers
on
Friday.

According
to
the
Office
for
National
Statistics,
UK
gross
domestic
product
rose
by
0.1%
in
February
from
January,
in
line
with
FXStreet
cited
consensus.
UK
GDP
had
expanded
0.3%
on-month
in
January,
according
to
revised
data.

The
ONS
said
that
in
February,
industrial
production
increased
by
1.1%
from
January.
It
was
expected
to
be
unchanged,
according
to
FXStreet
cited
consensus.
Production
declined
by
0.3%
in
January
from
December.

On
an
annual
basis,
industrial
production
improved
by
1.4%
in
February,
having
risen
by
0.3%
a
month
earlier.

Data
showed
the
UK
trade
deficit
narrowed
to
£2.29
billion
in
February,
from
£3.13
billion
in
January.

The
value
of
goods
imports
fell
by
0.4%
in
February,
because
of
falls
in
fuel
and
chemical
imports
from
non-EU
countries.

The
value
of
goods
exports
increased
by
0.9%,
with
a
rise
in
exports
to
non-EU
countries
partially
offset
by
a
fall
in
exports
to
the
EU.

The
FTSE
100
index
opened
up
61.11
points,
0.8%,
at
7,984.91.
The
FTSE
250
was
up
130.77
points,
0.7%,
at
19,917.64,
and
the
AIM
All-Share
was
up
2.98
points,
0.4%,
at
761.81.

“Positive
UK
GDP
growth
in
February,
coming
together
with
an
upgrade
to
the
January
estimate,
will
do
nothing
to
reassure
markets
that
interest
rate
cuts
are
locked
in
for
the
first
half
of
this
year,”
said
Nicholas
Hyett,
analyst
at
Wealth
Club.

“Having
said
that,
areas
of
the
economy
that
are
dependent
on
discretionary
spending
do
look
kind
of
soggy.
Accommodation
and
food
and
drink
services
both
contracted
in
February
and
the
construction
sector
is
in
the
doldrums
(with
eight
out
of
nine
sectors
seeing
a
decrease
month-on-month).
There
are
suggestions
wet
weather
may
have
played
a
part
here,
but
an
interest
rate
cut
could
be
quite
helpful
to
those
areas
of
the
economy
nonetheless.”

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