The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the UK economy grew by 0.6% between April and June, continuing its recovery from the recession last year.
The UK economy showed no growth in June, despite overall positive figures for the second quarter of 2024. Weakness in the services sector was balanced by gains in manufacturing.
The news follows a 0.7% growth in the first quarter following a brief recession at the end of 2023.
Office for National Statistics director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “The UK economy has now grown strongly for two quarters, following the weakness we saw in the second half of last year.
“Growth across the three months was led by the service sector, where scientific research, the IT industry and legal services all did well.
“In June growth was flat with services falling, due to a weak month for health, retailing and wholesaling, offset by widespread growth in manufacturing.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves acknowledged the challenges ahead, emphasising the government’s commitment to economic growth.
Economics Director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, Suren Thiru, cautioned that the pace of growth is unlikely to continue throughout the remainder of 2024.
Thiru noted: “These figures confirm that the UK’s recovery from recession picked up steam in the second quarter, despite strike action and wet weather causing activity to flatline in June.
“The UK’s strong second quarter owes more to temporary momentum from the large recent falls in inflation and a boost to consumer spending from events like Euro 2024 than from a meaningful improvement in the UK’s underlying growth trajectory.
“This current pace of economic growth is unlikely to be maintained in the second half of the year as weaker wage growth, high interest rates and persistent supply constraints limits output.
“These strong second quarter growth figures may delay the next UK interest rate cut by giving those rate setters still worried about domestic price pressures enough assurances over the strength of the economy to hold off relaxing policy.”
Source: Heren, Kit. LBC. August 2024. https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk-economy-grows-second-quarter-of-2024-but-remains-flat-in-june/.