London (Reuters)
Official data showed yesterday that the British economy failed to grow as expected in February as strikes by public sector workers affected production, but growth in January was stronger than initially thought, meaning a recession in the first quarter is slightly less likely.
The Office for National Statistics said economic output was little changed month on month in February.
A Reuters poll of economists had indicated a growth of 0.1 percent.
The statistics bureau revised the monthly growth rate for January to 0.4 percent from the previous estimate of 0.3 percent.
The revision means the economy needs to contract by 0.6% in March for the contraction to occur in the first quarter of the year as the Bank of England predicted.
UK Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said the economic outlook is “brighter than expected”, adding that the country should avoid a recession.
“The economic outlook looks brighter than expected…Gross domestic product grew in the three months to February, and we are ready to avoid recession thanks to the steps we have taken,” Hunt said after data showed that British economic output was unchanged on a monthly basis in February.
