Official figures this morning show that Britain's economy grew at a faster rate than expected in the fourth quarter of 2004, driven by the services sector.
The Office for National Statistics said the British economy grew by 0.7% in the fourth quarter compared with 0.5% in the third. The Q4 figure was higher than the 0.6% economists had expected, and brought the annual rate of growth to 2.8%, compared with a revised 3.2% in the third quarter.
For the full year, the ONS estimated that the economy grew by 3.1%, roughly in line with the Bank of England and Treasury's forecasts, and marking the fastest rate of growth since 2000. It was also well ahead of the 2.2% recorded in 2003.
While the services sector, which accounts for around 72% of the economy, grew 1% on the quarter, the output of the production industries contracted 0.5%, the second quarterly fall in row.
While many economists would call this a technical recession, the ONS said it would not comment on the definition of a recession and whether the manufacturing recovery was over.
