UK GDP rose 0.2% mom in February, down from January’s 0.5% mom but beat expectation of 0.0% mom. Index of services rose 0.1% mom, while index of production rose 0.6% mom. Manufacturing rose 0.9% mom. Construction rose 0.4% mom. Agriculture dropped -1.3% mom.
Rolling three-month growth rate (Dec to Feb) was unchanged at 0.3%. Services contributed 0.29%, production 0.02% and construction -0.04%.
Commenting on today’s GDP figures, Head of GDP Rob Kent-Smith said: “GDP growth remained modest in the latest three months. Services again drove the economy, with a continued strong performance in IT. Manufacturing also continued to recover after weakness at the end of last year with the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry, chemicals and alcohol performing well in recent months.”
Also from UK, in February, industrial production rose 0.5% mom, 0.1% yoy versus expectation of 0.1% mom, -0.8% yoy. Manufacturing production rose 0.9% mom, 0.6% yoy, versus expectation of 0.2% mom, -0.7% yoy. Construction output rose 0.4% mom versus expectation of -0.3% mom. Visible trade deficit widened to GBP -14.1B.
