By Agency Reporter

Thursday, 25 Nov 2010

UNITED KINGDOM: The United Kingdom economy grew at 0.8 per cent between July and September, latest official figures have confirmed. The British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday that the figures, which followed last month‘s preliminary estimate, confirmed that the economy slowed from the growth rate of 1.2 per cent in the second quarter.

The Office for National Statistics said that exports of goods and services rose by 2.2 per cent while imports rose by 0.7 per cent.

However, growth in government and household spending slowed.

During the third quarter of 2010, household expenditure grew by 0.3 per cent, the ONS said, slower than the 0.7 per cent growth rate seen in the previous quarter.

The ONS also confirmed that the economy had grown by 2.8 per cent compared with a year ago.

The Chief Economist, British Chambers of Commerce, Mr. David Kern, said the latest figures showed the UK‘s economic recovery remained ”on course and is broadly based”.

”The figures confirm our assessment that the UK economy is in a more robust state than many had thought,” he said.

”But we have not yet seen the impact of the tough deficit-cutting measures that the government will start implementing early in the New Year,” he added.

Analysts also noted the slowdown in consumer spending, and said they expected the economy to continue slowing in the months ahead.

”We expect the impact of government spending cuts, concerns about job security in the public sector and uncertainty caused by the escalating financial crisis in Europe to become even more evident as we move towards the end of 2010,” said Chris Williamson at Markit.

Source: Punch