"With business surveys suggesting that the U.K. started the third quarter on a firm footing and with sentiment continuing to strengthen, it points to an encouraging outlook"
- James Knightley, an economist at ING Bank NV
The pace of growth of Britain's economy in the second quarter has been upwardly revised on Friday, as activity at construction and manufacturing sectors as well as strong trade figures provided a boost to domestic economy. A report from the Office for National Statistics showed that the nation's gross domestic product expanded 0.7% from the first quarter, when it grew just 0.3%, and outpacing an initial estimate of 0.6% growth published on July 25.
Britain's key construction sector's output was also revised up from 0.9% to a growth of 1.4%- a sharp improvement since the first quarter, when it fell 1.8%. At the same time, the service output remained unchanged at 0.6%, while the output of manufacturing sector was revised up to 0.7%, from previous estimate of 0.4% growth. Another contributor to growth came from the trade, where a rise of exports outpaced the increase in import, adding 0.3% to GDP figures. Shipments from the country advanced 3.6%, while imports rose 2.5%. These figures are giving a boost to Prime Minister David Cameron, whose party is currently trailing behind the opposition Labour Party by as little as 3%, according to latest polls. Additionally, the economic outlook is getting brighter amid signs of strength in the global economy.
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