Information from the Office for National Statistics, has revealed that the United Kingdom’s economy narrowly avoided recession in the fourth quarter despite soaring inflation.
According to AFP, Gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent, as the services sector offset poor performance by construction and manufacturing.
GDP fell 0.5 percent in December due to extensive strikes, with many workers protesting wages that has failed to keep up with rising inflation.
“The economy partially bounced back from the large fall seen in December,” said ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan
“The main drivers of January’s growth were the return of children to classrooms, following unusually high absences in the run-up to Christmas, the Premier League (football) clubs returned to a full schedule after the end of the World Cup and private health providers also had a strong month.
“Postal services also partially recovered from the effects of December’s strikes.”
The economy had flat growth in the three months leading up to January, the ONS said on Friday.
Moreover, the GDP in January was unchanged from the same month a year earlier.
“This tallies with the idea that the UK economy is going to shrink overall this year, even if a technical recession is avoided,” said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates.
“The takeaway for businesses is unfortunately that things are going to remain very challenging, with stagnation a likely scenario for some time,” she added.
