The manufacturing sector continued to struggle, with output edging up only 0.1 per cent AlamyBritain’s economy performed better over the summer than originally estimated, according to the Office for National Statistics, which has revised up its GDP figures for the third quarter. A larger than anticipated increase in exports helped to lift output to 0.4 per cent in the three months to September. The figure is now in line with economists’ initial forecasts, made before the first estimate in November put GDP growth at only 0.3 per cent. A surge in goods exports in the run up to the October 31 Brexit deadline helped to reduce Britain’s current account deficit to £15.8 billion in the third quarter, down from £24 billion in the second quarter. As a percentage of economic output, the deficit fell to 2.8 per cent, its’…

Source: The Times December 20, 2019 12:06 UTC