- Prior 0.0%; revised to +0.1%
- GDP +1.0% vs +0.6% y/y expected
- Prior +0.8%; revised to +0.7%
- Services +0.5% vs +0.2% m/m expected
- Prior 0.0%; revised to +0.1%
- Industrial output +0.5% vs +0.2% m/m expected
- Prior -0.1%
- Manufacturing output -0.1% vs +0.3% m/m expected
- Prior +0.1%; revised to +0.2%
- Construction output +1.0% vs 0.0% m/m expected
- Prior +0.2%; revised to +0.5%
The main boost to the UK economy in February came amid a beat on estimates from the services sector output. That contributed to 0.42% (unrounded) in terms of monthly GDP growth. In the three months to February, UK GDP is also estimated to have grown by 0.5% after the 0.3% reading in the three months to January.
The more positive showing by the services sector now sees it record a fourth straight month of increase in output. And the good news is that the growth is more widespread with 12 of the 14 subsectors showing positive increases in activity.
The details show that the largest positive contribution to services sector output came from administrative and support service activities (up 2.0%). An increase of 2.5% in employment activities was the largest positive contributor to the subsector after haven fallen by 6.6% in January.
All in all, it’s a positive showing by the UK economy right before the US-Iran conflict started. But with the war set to leave its mark, this is very much lagging data and not one that will have any material impact to the outlook currently.
