UK economy grows more than expected in Q1

(Sharecast News) - The UK economy grew more than expected in the first three months of the year, according to data released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics. Gross domestic product rose 0.7% in the first quarter, up from 0.1% growth in the final quarter of last year and ahead of consensus expectations for 0.6% growth.

The ONS said growth was driven largely by a 0.7% increase in the services sector, while production grew 1.1% and the construction sector showed no growth.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "The economy grew strongly in the first quarter of the year, largely driven by services, though production also grew significantly, after a period of decline.

"Growth in services was broad based, with wholesale, retail and computer programming all having a strong quarter as did car leasing and advertising. These were only slightly offset by falls in education, telecoms and legal services."