By Ed Frankl
The U.K. economy expanded more than expected in the second quarter of 2023, helped by growing services and industrial output, despite strikes, a series of bank holidays and continued high inflation weighing on growth.
Gross domestic product grew 0.2% from April to June compared with the previous three-month period, after 0.1% growth in the first quarter, according to data from the Office for National Statistics released Friday.
The reading is an improvement on the zero growth expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
With the U.K.’s economy in June growing by 0.5% on month, it meant quarterly GDP in the first quarter was 0.2% smaller than at its prepandemic level in the final three months of 2019, the ONS said.
Write to Ed Frankl at [email protected]
