UK economy grew by 0.8% in Q1 2014, ONS figures suggest

British economy grew by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2014 and by 3.1% over the last year, figures from the second estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) conducted by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) have recently revealed.

The expenditure growth in the quarter was driven by household consumption, which grew by 0.8% and accounted for 0.5 percentage points of GDP growth. Fixed investment grew by 0.6% on the quarter, accounting for an additional 0.1 percentage points of expenditure growth.

The recovery of output growth over the last year has been accompanied by a strengthening of conditions in the labour market. The unemployment rate among those aged 16 and above fell from 8.2% in the three months to March 2012, to 7.8% in the three months to March 2013 and has since fallen a further percentage point to 6.8% in the three months to March 2014.

On the other hand, the employment rate — expressed as a fraction of the population in work — has risen strongly from 70.6% in Q1 2012, to 71.4% in Q1 2013 and to 72.7% in Q1 2014.

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