Data, released by UK's Office of National Statistics, revealed national services industries experience robust growth in the period of April-June 2018, driven by a surge in wholesale and retail trade.
"Within this, retail trade growth was particularly strong (2.1%), as a result of the warm weather seen in this quarter. This growth was also due partially to a bounce back from weaker growth in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2018," the ONS report on GDP monthly estimate said.
0.5% growth in UK services in the 3 months to June, with zero growth in the month of June https://t.co/NCdLP0K1xw pic.twitter.com/7ankbbJekL
— ONS (@ONS) August 10, 2018
Another sector of the UK economy — construction — has recovered, following three consecutive months of negative rolling three-month growth.
"Growth this quarter (Apr to June) was due partially to a bounce back from the negative growth seen in the previous periods, although there is some evidence that warm weather also contributed to an increase in construction output," the report showed.
0.9% growth in construction output in the 3 months to June and it grew 1.4% in the month of June https://t.co/3buHHHxU4I pic.twitter.com/OjGyuoRlnm
— ONS (@ONS) August 10, 2018
The head of national accounts at the ONS, Rob Kent-Smith, said that although the economy picked up a little in the second quarter, "manufacturing continued to fall back from its high point at the end of last year and underlying growth remained modest by historical standards."
"The UK's trade deficit noticeably worsened as exports of cars and planes declined sharply while imports rose," Mr. Kent-Smith added.
The ONS report stressed that abstracting from the quarterly movements, the underlying trend in real GDP is one of slowing growth.
The presented statistical data comes two days after the national currency — pound sterling — plummeted to its lowest point in 12 months. Fueled by fears the UK government won't achieve a Brexit agreement with the European Union, the pound reached US $1.2863 on Wednesday.
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