UK economy rebounds in January following dismal December

Rolling three-month growth remains subdued

UK Gross domestic product (GDP) growth beat economist expectations to reach 0.5% in January, the biggest increase monthly output since December 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This comes after a dismal end to 2018 which saw GDP growth at -0.4% in December and just 0.2% in November, while rolling three-month growth remained subdued at 0.2%. The services sector saw 0.3% growth in January, with output in IT (1.7% growth), wholesale and retail (1.4% growth) all increasing for the month. Meanwhile, the largest negative contributor to growth within services was professional, scientific and technical activities, which contracted by 1.3%. Market Movers blog The production and manufacturing sectors were also positive contributors at 0.6% and 0.8% respectively,...