Between July and September economic growth slowed to 0.1% compared to 0.5% growth between April and June, which is a blow for the Chancellor, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Rachel Reeves said, “Improving economic growth is at the heart of everything I am seeking to achieve, which is why I am not satisfied with these numbers.
“At my Budget, I took the difficult choices to fix the foundations and stabilise our public finances.
“Now we are going to deliver growth through investment and reform to create more jobs and more money in people’s pockets, get the NHS back on its feet, rebuild Britain and secure our borders in a decade of national renewal.”
Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics, said, “The economy grew a little in the latest quarter overall as the recent slowdown in growth continued.
“Retail and new construction work both performed well, partially offset by falls in telecommunications and wholesale. Generally, growth was subdued across most industries in the latest quarter.
“In September the economy shrank a little. Services showed no growth with a notable increase in car sales offset by a slow month for IT companies.
“Production fell overall, driven by manufacturing, though there was an increase in oil and gas extraction.”
Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales said, “Following a ‘gangbusters’ first half of the year, the third quarter outturn paints a more realistic picture of the UK’s underlying growth trajectory given longstanding challenges over poor productivity and persistent supply side constraints.
“Economic growth in the final quarter of this year is likely to be similarly modest with looming tax rises and growing global uncertainty likely to spark a renewed restraint to spend and invest, despite lower interest rates.”
Thiru added, “In spite of these downbeat figures, a December policy loosening looks improbable as rate setters will likely be concerned enough over inflation risks from the Budget and growing global headwinds to resist signing off back-to-back interest rate cuts.”
