Growth now ‘encouraging’ says Cameron

The UK economy notched up successive quarters of growth as gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year, official figures have confirmed.

The successive quarterly increases were the UK’s first since 2011, after a 0.3 per cent rise at the beginning of this year.

The Office for National Statistics figures released yesterday showed all the main sectors of the economy grew for the first time since the third quarter of 2010, adding to hopes for a recovery.

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Prime Minister David Cameron said the figures were “encouraging” and showed the UK was on the “right track”.

Online, he called the figures “encouraging”, adding: “We are on the right track – building an economy for hardworking people.”

The GDP rise was the best performance, excluding special events, since the third quarter of 2011. A 0.7 per cent rise in the third quarter of last year is attributed to a bounce-back from a Jubilee slump in output.

Prospects of the UK entering the sunlit uplands of recovery have risen steadily since the previous GDP data in April this year, when the 0.3 per cent increase in the first quarter was announced – though some warn that underlying weakness remains.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s a measure of how poor the economy is faring that this level of growth is being welcomed. We remain stuck in the slowest recovery for a century.”