GDP beats expectations to increase 0.5% in Q4

Growth of 1.8% over the year

The UK economy grew at 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2017, helped by strong growth in the business and finance sector.

This follows growth of 0.4% in the previous quarter and beat expectations, with analysts forecasting it to remain at 0.4%. Growth between October and December was driven by the services sector which grew 0.6%, particularly the business services and finance sector, which increased 0.8% during the period. UK inflation peaks as sterling hits post-Brexit high Growth in manufacturing was partially offset by a significant fall in oil and gas extraction, caused by the repair work made to the Forties pipeline. The Office for National Statistics said GDP was estimated to have increased 1...