UK economy grows 0.4% as warm weather and World Cup push up retail sales
The Beast from the East saw the economy slow at the beginning of the year, but in the last three months has seen an upturn
BRITAIN'S economy has seen a boost this quarter, as glorious weather and the World Cup saw GDP growth double to 0.4 per cent.
Official figures revealed that The Beast from the East saw the economy slow at the beginning of the year, but in the last three months it has seen an upturn.
In a bumper boost for Theresa May, strong figures from the services sector and construction pushed up the figures, but cars and planes exports saw a slight dip.
The figures compare to just 0.2 per cent growth in the first three months of the year, as the poor weather and a collapse in construction hit the economy - the worst figures since late 2012.
Experts hailed the World Cup for the good news, as "consumers took advantage of the celebrations" to buy more food and drink.
A combination of sunny weather, football festivities, two bank holidays and a Royal Wedding led to more beer, barbecues and summer clothes being sold.
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at fund manager Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The World Cup, the Royal Wedding and warm weather got consumers spending their pennies on beers and barbecues.
“But higher energy bills and petrol prices, and a backdrop of weak wage growth, suggests the shackles are still on the UK economy.
Others warned growth was “anaemic” and the export performance should trigger alarm bells just months from Brexit.
But the trade deficit widened to £8.6billion in the last month, as experts fell and imports picked up.
Head of National Accounts Rob Kent-Smith said today: “The economy picked up a little in the second quarter with both retail sales and construction helped by the good weather and rebounding from the effects of the snow earlier in the year."
"However, 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.”
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But Labour's John McDonnell said that the Tories' cuts had hit growth.
He said today: "More than eight years of unnecessary ideologically-driven austerity has created an economy unable to cope with the instability brought about by the Tories' mismanagement of the Brexit negotiations. The result is low growth and stagnant pay."