- Darren Morgan, ONS
According to the Office for National Statistics the UK economy went up slightly faster than forecasted during the first three months following the European Union referendum. The data shows that Britain's gross domestic product advanced 0.6% on a quarterly basis in the three months to the end of September, slightly ahead of the 0.5% analysts expected. Generally the jump was spurred by a hefty revision to output from the business services and finance industries, which was revised up from 0.3% to 0.8% for the third quarter. Meanwhile separate figures for Britain's powerhouse services sector, which accounts for around 79% of the UK economy, saw output grow by 0.3% between September and October.
In the meantime the UK current-account deficit widened in the third quarter as Britain posted its worst trade performance in almost three years. The difference between money coming into the UK and money sent out was 25.5 billion pounds. That's equal to 5.2% of gross domestic product. The trade deficit widened to 2.8%, the most since the fourth quarter of 2013.
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