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UK economy picks up pace in second quarter

The UK economy picked up pace in the second quarter as consumers proved more resilient than expected in the face of rising interest rates.

Gross domestic product was 0.2 per cent higher in the period from April to June than in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. This followed an expansion of 0.1 per cent in each of the previous two quarters but still left quarterly GDP 0.2 per cent below its pre-Covid peak.

The figures were slightly stronger than suggested by the Bank of England’s forecast, which pencilled in 0.1 per cent expansion between the first and second quarters. The BoE said last week that while it no longer expected the economy to fall into recession, it would remain near stagnation for the next two years.