Beers and barbecues: Heatwave boosts UK GDP to 0.4% in Q2

Growth in retail and services

UK GDP grew by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2018, up from 0.2% in the previous quarter, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In the figures for the three months to the end of June, growth was driven by services and offset by a fall in production. The figure was in line with economists' expectations and those made by the Bank of England. Services saw growth of 0.5% to make it the largest contributor during the quarter but there was a 0.8% contraction in production, which had a negative impact. Business investment grew by 0.5%.  'A mixed picture of UK economy' as UK GDP climbs to 0.2% in May Looking over the first half of the year, growth was 0.6%, unchanged from the second half of 2017.  The ONS sai...