UK GDP rose by 0.7% in January-March, according to the latest quarterly national accounts which show the state of the UK economy

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, has spotted good news on the economy in today’s GDP report:

Within the service sector, the highest rate of growth was for the professional, scientific and technical activities sectors, which rose by 1.8%.

This was driven by a 7.2% increase in research and development and a 3.3% increase in legal activities. These are high value activities for the UK economy, and growth in this area bodes well for the future of the UK. This may go some way to mitigating the decline in business investment last quarter.

The latest UK GDP data shows that Britain’s economy grew quicker than expected in the first quarter of the year, expanding by 0.7% from the previous quarter. This shows that the UK economy still showed slow growth, rather than the most timely monthly estimate that showed no growth in April 2024.

Particularly, services grew by 0.8% on the quarter with widespread growth across the sector; elsewhere the production sector grew by 0.6% while the construction sector fell by 0.6%.

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Just in: Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, has left interest rates on hold at 3.75%.

But it also hints that rates could be cut as many as three times in the second half of 2024 if inflation prospects remain the same.

Inflation is close to the target and economic activity is weak. The Executive Board considers that monetary policy should be adjusted gradually, and has decided to hold the policy rate unchanged at 3.75%.