UK GDP growth slows in fourth quarter, NIESR estimates
UK economic growth slowed in the final three months of the year, according to the respected monthly analysis by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Gross domestic product grew by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, down from growth of 0.6% in the third quarter but in line with market expectations and the level of GDP growth in the three months ending November.
NIESR's estimates suggest that the economy grew by 2% over 2016, compared with 2.2% in 2015.
For 2017 NIESR predicted GDP will slow to 1.4%.
The solid data was not enough to stop the pound slipping back to its lowest levels against the US dollar since October, below 1.2100, sent lower by earlier news from the Office for National Statistics about the marked widening of the UK trade deficit and decline in construction output.
Analyst Paul Sirani at currency broker Xtrade said the consistency in GDP growth continued to defy those who predicted an economic recession following June’s vote to leave the EU.
“However, as the World Bank continues to remind us, a period of uncertainty is imminent. The promise of a hard-Brexit and an unpredictable wider political landscape could offset any potential economic growth in early 2017,” he said.