Prior +0.5%; revised to +0.4%Services output +0.3% vs -0.1% m/m expectedPrior +0.5%Industrial output -0.2% vs -0.3% m/m expectedPrior +0.5%; revised to +0.3%Manufacturing output +1.2% vs 0.0% m/m expectedPrior -0.1%; revised to -0.2%Construction output +1.5% vs -0.5% m/m expectedPrior +1.0%; revised to +0.5%
The UK economy braved the challenges from higher energy prices to post a strong performance in March. That largely came on the back of a better performance in the services sector, which also contributed 0.8% in terms of growth in the first quarter.
Of note, there was a widespread increase in output across the majority of subsectors in terms of services output. The breakdown can be seen below:
And even when drilling down further, consumer-facing services also posted 0.8% growth on the month. That is an improvement from a 0.1% drop in February. Of note, the largest positive contributions at the industry level came from retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles (up 0.7%) and other personal service activities (up 2.5%).
Besides that, there was added resilience in the manufacturing and construction sectors as well. So, that helped to underpin the stronger overall economic showing in March despite headwinds from the Middle East situation and surging energy prices.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.