Sunshine and Meghan give economy a double boost

BRITAIN’S economy has bounced back from a slow start to the year as the hot weather, royal wedding and World Cup boost business, figures showed yesterday.

In an upbeat report that could persuade the Bank of England to raise interest rates again next month, the Office for National Statistics said economic output rose by 0.3 per cent in May.

Services grew strongly, with retailers enjoying a boost, and construction also saw a return to growth after a weak couple of months.

Separate findings by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) showed the economy grew by 0.4 per cent between April and June.

That is double the expansion in the first three months of 2018 amid the icy blast in February and March. With Britons splash- ing out in pubs and garden centres as they enjoy the World Cup and heatwave, the think-tank predicted growth of 0.5 per cent in the third quarter.

Reporting an 8.8 per cent rise in sales over the past 13 weeks, Stephen Goodyear, chairman of pub chain Young’s, said: ‘We are, once more, benefiting from a long period of very warm weather.’

The reports suggest the slowdown at the start of the year was due to the poor weather rather than a wider economic malaise or concerns about Brexit.

Amit Kara, an economist at NIESR, said: ‘The economy is showing clear signs of recovering from the unexpected slowdown in the first quarter.

‘We believe that this recovery will be most noticeable in manufacturing and construction where output showed start to increase once more.’

He added: ‘Although Brexit and protectionist agendas loom large, there is little clear evidence that these factors specifically dragged economic growth lower in the first quarter.’

‘Splashing out in garden centres’