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Britain's economy grew by 0.2% month-on-month in April, the
Office for National Statistics said, matching the consensus in a
Reuters poll of economists.
Financial markets showed little reaction to the figures - in
contrast to recent labour market and inflation data which
boosted expectations for higher interest rates from the Bank of
England.
Wednesday's data chimed with business surveys that point to weak
activity - but no recession which had been widely predicted only
a few months ago.
Over the three months to April, Britain's economy expanded just
0.1% - a "low growth trajectory" according to the British
Chambers of Commerce.
"Looking ahead, we continue to expect GDP in Q2 as a whole to be
unchanged from Q1," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at
consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"Public sector strikes have continued to rumble on, and the lost
working day for the King's coronation probably inflicted a 0.2
percentage point blow to GDP in May," Tombs added.
The health sector was the biggest drag on growth in April, when
there were four days of junior doctor strikes, the ONS said.
In response to Wednesday's figures, finance minister Jeremy Hunt
said the government would stick to its plan to halve inflation
this year.
The ONS said the economy in April stood 0.3% above its
pre-pandemic level of February 2020.
Services output rose 0.3% on the month, with the wholesale and
retail trade the biggest driver of growth. Information and
communications was the next largest contributor, with the film
and TV industry a particular highlight.
But manufacturing output dropped 0.3% and the construction
sector contracted unexpectedly by 0.6%, the figures showed.
(Graphic by Sumanta Sen; editing by William James, Sarah Young,
Kate Holton and Andrew Heavens)
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