Think tank predicts UK growth slowdown in Q3

UK economic growth will slow down in the third quarter of the year, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said, halving a previous estimate.

The think tank forecasts the economy will expand by 0.4% in the three months to September, the BBC reports. That is just half the pace of NIESR's forecast of 0.8% growth it made in May. Weak productivity would be "a major domestic risk", it said. Data this week showed the UK manufacturing sector grew only weakly in July. The pace of expansion in the construction sector also slowed. However, NIESR said the UK economy would expand by 2.5% this year - unchanged from its May estimate. In July the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) revised its prediction for GDP growth in 2015...