UK exits recession with better-than-expected growth

STORY: Britain's economy grew by the most in nearly three years in the first quarter of 2024.

It brought to an end the shallow recession it entered in the second half of last year, and beat analyst forecasts.

Official data said gross domestic product expanded by 0.6% in the three months to March.

That was the strongest expansion since the fourth quarter of 2021, when it grew 1.5%.

Friday's data was welcomed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of an election.

He said the economy had 'turned a corner'.

The opposition Labour Party accused Sunak of being out of touch, and said it was not time for what they called a 'victory lap'.

On a monthly basis, the economy grew by 0.4% in March.

That was faster than analyst forecasts, and driven partly by fewer public-sector strikes.

Data showed car manufacturing performed well, but was offset by continued weakness in construction.

Friday's data also declared GDP in March was 0.7% higher than a year earlier, and above all economist expectations.

However, Britain has still had one of the slowest recoveries from the effects of the global health crisis.

The country's economy was just 1.7% bigger than its level in late 2019 at the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Only Germany among the G7 had performed worse.