UK economic growth picks up to 0.5%

The UK economy grew by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The growth in the July-to-September period compared with a 0.1% expansion in gross domestic product (GDP) in the previous quarter.

But analysts said growth in the second quarter of the year had been dampened by one-off factors.

As a result, the third-quarter figures should not be interpreted as a big economic rebound, they added.

Output of the production sector rose 0.5% in the third quarter, compared with a 1.2% fall previously.

Service sector growth was up 0.7%, against a rise of 0.2% in the previous quarter.

The ONS emphasised that growth in the April-to-June period had been hindered by factors such as the extra bank holiday for the royal wedding.

James Knightley, at ING Financial Markets, said: "While the Q3 growth rate looks respectable, it is important to remember that this follows a Q2 figure depressed by having fewer working days because of the royal wedding and supply disruptions caused by the Japan earthquake/tsunami.
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Gross domestic product. A measure of economic activity in a country, namely of all the services and goods produced in a year. There are three main ways of calculating GDP - through output, through income and through expenditure.
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"So for the economy to have only grown 0.5% in Q3 suggests the underlying picture remains weak," Mr Knightley said.

Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, added: "This performance overstates the underlying strength of the economy and this is likely to be as good as it gets for some time to come."

However, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne described the figures as "a positive step" and better than many people had forecast.

"Of course the British economy has got this difficult journey. It is a journey made more difficult by the kinds of things you see for example today in the markets because of the situation in the eurozone.

"But we are determined to finish this journey," Mr Osborne said.

Asked whether the government would stick to its austerity plans, Mr Osborne said: "We have to understand that this journey is the only route that will take us to prosperity and recovery."

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