WEATHER DAMPENS ECONOMY

Growth in the UK economy halved in the first three months of this year, a top think-tank has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research reckons the economy expanded by just 0.2%, down from 0.4% in the final quarter of 2017.

Amit Kara, from NIESR, said “The main reason was severe weather in March which is likely to have disrupted activity in all major sectors of the economy.”

It came as figures from the Office for National Statistics showed manufacturing output suffered a fall in February.

The 0.2% dip was the first decline in nearly a year. Bad weather was, again, given as a reason. The slowdown renewed speculation about whether the Bank of England will vote to raise its base rate next month from 0.5% – helping savers but hurting borrowers.

Economist Alan Clarke, of Scotiabank, said: “This weak data shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for the May rate hike, but I’m getting wary of how many times I’ve said that in recent weeks.”