Economic growth for start of year confirmed


The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that economic growth in the first quarter of the year was 0.4%.


The quarter-on-quarter growth in gross domestic product (GDP) was the 13th consecutive quarter of positive growth since the first quarter of 2013.


GDP was 2.0% higher than the same period a year ago — a revision downwards of 0.1%.


Production output decreased by 0.4% in first quarter of 2016 compared with final quarter of 2015, unrevised from the previously published estimate. 


Within the production sub-industries, output from mining and quarrying, including oil and gas extraction, decreased by 2.3%; manufacturing (the largest component of production) decreased by 0.4%, while the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply industries increased by 0.4%. Water supply and sewerage increased by 2.3%


Production output increased by 0.1% on the same quarter 2015, but manufacturing fell by 1.3%.


Services, which now accounts for almost 80% of the economy, grew by 0.6% in the first quarter on the previous quarter and by 2.7% on a year ago.


www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/secondestimateofgdp/quarter1jantomar2016