Britain’s strong economy keeps on growing
BRITAIN is in good shape for healthy economic growth and trade, experts said yesterday.
Official figures for manufacturing, construction and exports showed positive results, with manufacturing output showing its strongest growth for nearly seven years.
Output increased 2.1 per cent in the three months to January compared to the three months to October 2016.
Construction also expanded between the two quarters, by 1.8 per cent. This sector was boosted by strong infrastructure and housing growth, and the total of new construction work was 2.1 per cent up, said the Office for National Statistics.
Britain’s trade deficit – the amount by which imported goods and services exceed exports – narrowed by £4.7billion to £6.4billion over the three months to January compared with the previous quarter.
That was down to rising exports of oil, machinery, chemicals, transport equipment and gold not held as reserve assets by banks and governments.
The ONS also released figures comparing performances in January with those in December.
These showed a 0.4 per cent drop in construction output and a 0.9 fall in manufacturing, largely due to a dip in the pharmaceuticals sector.
Britain’s trade gap in January was level with December at about £2billion, although the value of exports rose slightly more than those of imports.
However, the ONS and commentators stressed three-month figures give a better view of underlying trends than monthly statistics.
Lee Hopley, chief economist at manufacturers’ organisation EEF, said: “While manufacturing output pared back somewhat in the first month of the year, looking underneath the headline statistics reveals the contraction was almost exclusively driven by erratic swings in pharmaceuticals output.
“Otherwise, the sector looks to be in good shape with solid improvements across most other sectors, underpinned by continued growth in exports.”
Last year’s recovery, she added, “should continue in full swing over the early part of the year, although this is not the time for complacency”.
The sector’s road to recovery, she said, is “likely to be a bumpy ride”.