UK economic growth picks up for tenth consecutive quarter
28/07/2015
UK economic growth has picked up in the second quarter of the year, thanks to a big jump in oil and gas production.
Official figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have shown that the economy grew by 0.7% from April to June, compared to 0.4% in the first quarter of the year. Also, the output in the economy was 2.6% higher in the second quarter to the first.
The growth marks the tenth consecutive quarter of sustained economic growth. Domestic demand is expected to remain strong, as wages rise and with the temporary effects of low inflation boosting consumer spending. The ONS has also revealed that there has been evidence that businesses have begun to increase investment.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said:
"Our economy [is] producing as much per person as ever before. But there are clear risks out there in the world economy from the Eurozone to what's happening in the world's stock markets, and so its vital that we stay on the road that we've set out on.”
Labours shadow Chancellor, Chris Leslie, believed the results were not good enough:
"Our economic growth really should be much stronger than this, especially with some of the mounting instability in the European economies, China, worldwide. We haven't seen the rebalancing of the recovery that we should have seen by now."
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