Output grew by 0.5% in February, up from zero development in January and better than the 0.1% forecast by economists.
Some ordinary caveats apply. Month-to-month information could be risky and liable to revision – however it will probably go up in addition to down.
Whereas publishing the most recent figures, the ONS additionally revised up its January determine from -0.1% to zero.
It is clear that, throughout the financial system, sectors carried out robustly.
The large shock was manufacturing.
Enterprise surveys informed us that UK factories had been on their knees, anxious about Trump’s tariffs and impending tax rises that got here into impact in April.
But the manufacturing sector grew by 1.5% – led by prescription drugs, metals and transport tools. Companies have been resilient.
The chancellor can be happy, however the celebrations are more likely to be fleeting.
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2:21
Evaluation: Trump blinks as bonds falter
The world has already moved on, with Donald Trump unleashing coverage chaos on the worldwide financial system.
Britain is now going through a ten% tariff on exports to the US and there can be pockets of acute stress, significantly for our automobile producers, who’ve been hit with a 25% tariff.
They export extra to the US than some other nation on the earth. Certainly, a few of the development in manufacturing could have been pushed by companies dashing to do offers earlier than tariffs got here into power.
The tariffs alone on the UK can be painful – however probably the most important injury is more likely to come from a slowdown within the world financial system.
The US and China are engaged in a tit-for-tat commerce warfare and that may have destructive spillovers, particularly for an open financial system like ours. We cannot escape the fallout.
Companies right here within the UK may curtail hiring and funding in response, their hesitancy compounded by uncertainty over what Donald Trump may do subsequent. Shoppers might also retreat, particularly if the pound weakens and imports grow to be dearer, inflicting inflationary penalties.
So, whereas we have lastly been given one thing to cheer, darker days beckon. We should always take pleasure in it whereas it lasts.
