Britain’s GDP has finally risen – by 0.2 percent – bucking the trend of last year’s stagnation and the drop inflicted on the economy in the previous quarter.
Responding to the latest GDP figures showing the economy grew by 0.2% in January, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “While the last few years have been tough, today’s numbers show we are making progress in growing the economy – part of which makes it possible to bring down national insurance contributions by £900 this coming year.
“But if we want the rate of growth to pick up more we need to make work pay which means ending the unfairness of taxing work twice.”
Liz McKeown said: “The economy picked up in January with strong growth in retial and wholesaling. Construction also performed well with housebuilders having a good month, having been subdued for most of the last month.
“These were partially offset by falls in TV and film production, lawyers and the often-erratic pharmaceuticals industry. Over the last three months as a whole the economy contracted slightly.”
We’ll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
For the latest news and breaking news visit:** **/finance
Stay up to date with all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
Follow our social media accounts here onhttp://facebook.com/DailyExpress and @daily_express
