UK growth hit by biggest drag from net trade on record
Trade continues to drag on UK growth as consumer spending drives Britain's recovery. Britain's recovery slowed in the third quarter as growth was dampened by the biggest drag from net trade on record, official figures showed on Friday.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the UK economy expanded by 0.5pc in the three months to September. This was unchanged from its previous estimate and follows an expansion of 0.7pc in the second quarter.
The figures showed Britain's trade deficit almost doubled in the third quarter, to £14.2bn, reflecting a jump in imports, which rose by 5.5pc over the period compared with a 2.7pc fall in the second quarter.
This drag from trade was enough to knock 1.5 percentage points off growth in the third quarter, the ONS said, though the de...