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UK GDP growth confirmed at 0.5% for Q4
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed GDP in the UK expanded by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The second estimate of UK growth in Q4 is unchanged from the first report last month, the ONS has confirmed.
At 0.5%, Q4 growth came in slightly below analysts’ expectations of 0.6% and undershot the previous quarter’s figure of 0.7%.
Ian Kernohan, chief economist at Royal London Asset Management, puts this slight decline down to a falling oil price, and oil and gas activity in the North Sea putting downward pressure on business investment.
Business investment in the UK fell at its sharpest rate in nearly six years in Q4, down 1.4% from the previous quarter.
“Two notable trends in the expenditure breakdown were the weakness in investment, and the strength in trade,” Kernohan said.
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“Outside the energy sector however, business survey data on investment intentions remain quite buoyant. The trade deficit narrowed, as exports grew faster than imports, and this factor was the major contributor to growth in the quarter.”
The year-on-year growth also remains unrevised at 2.6%, the highest growth since 2007, making the UK the fastest growing G7 economy in 2014.
Earlier this month, the Bank of England predicted growth in the UK will hit 2.9% this year, the fastest in nearly a decade, as falling oil prices offer a boost to consumption.
Low inflation and the falling oil price have also prompted the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to raise its own forecast for UK growth in 2015 to 2.7% from its original prediction of 2.5%.