LONDON (AP) — Britain's Treasury chief Rachel Reeves said Friday that she is “not satisfied” by official figures showing the British economy's rebound from recession slowed down sharply in the third quarter of the year, as the country's top central banker voiced his concerns about the economic damage wrought by the U.K.'s departure from the European Union.

The Office for National Statistics said growth during the July-to-September period was just 0.1%. That was lower than the 0.5% recorded in the previous three-month period and below market expectations of 0.2%.

The statistics agency said overall output in September shrank, a development that has fueled accusations from critics of the new Labour government that its pessimism dragged the economy down in its first few weeks in office. The Conservatives’ Treasury spokesperson, Mel Stride said the deterioration in business and consumer confidence was a direct result of the government “talking the economy down.”

On coming to power in July for the first time in 14 years, the government described its economic inheritance from the former Conservative administration as the bleakest in decades, requiring urgent action to fix the public finances.

Reeves used the budget to raise taxes sharply, mainly on business, as well as increasing spending on public services, such as the state-run National Health Service, and borrowing for investment.

“Improving economic growth is at the heart of everything I am seeking to achieve, which is why I am not satisfied with these numbers,” Reeves said following Friday's figures.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said raising economic growth his government's number one priority over the next five years. Since the global financial crisis in 2008-9, the British economy has underperformed relative to previous years and actually slipped into a modest recession in 2023.

The Resolution Foundation think tank said the British economy has been a “rollercoaster” over the past year and that its medium-term performance has been “staid and stagnant”

As a result of the third-quarter slowdown, the think tank said the U.K. has fallen below the U.S. at the top of this year's growth leaderboard of the Group of Seven leading industrial economies.

“This all serves to highlight that the government’s mission to renew strong economic growth is both extremely hard, and absolutely necessary," said Simon Pittaway, the think tank's senior economist.

One factor hobbling the economy, many economists say, is Brexit, when Britain left the EU in 2020, which has made trade more difficult. Though the post-Brexit trade agreement between the two sides ensured there would be no tariffs placed on goods, exporters are finding life tough.