UK economy returns to growth in August

(Sharecast News) - The UK economy returned to growth in August, according to figures released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics. GPD rose 0.2%, in line with consensus expectations, following a downwardly-revised 0.6% contraction in July. This was revised from a 0.5% fall.

The services sector grew 0.4%, but the production and construction sectors shrank 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: "Our initial estimate suggests GDP grew a little in August, led by strong growth in services which was partially offset by falls in manufacturing and construction.

"Within services, education returned to normal levels, while computer programmers and engineers both had strong months.

"Across the last three months as a whole, the economy has grown modestly, led by car manufacturing and sales, and construction."