MNI BRIEF: UK GDP Sees Modest Jan Bounce As Football Returns
UK GDP recovers from a sluggish December, helped by a strong recovery in the services sector.
A return of Premier League football and more kids in their classrooms in January helped UK GDP bounce back from the decline seen in December, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. GDP rose 0.3% month-on-month, recovering part of the 0.5% decline seen in December. On a rolling 3-month basis, growth was flat, the ONS said.
“The main drivers of January’s growth were the return of children to classrooms, following unusually high absences in the run-up to Christmas, the Premier League clubs returned to a full schedule after the end of the World Cup and private health providers also had a strong month," ONS Director of Economic Statistics Darren Morgan said.
The bounceback in services saw the sector up 0.5% m/m, outpacing expectations of a modest 0.1% recovery. Construction output was lower, weighed in part by a wetter-than-average start to the month slowing housebuilding activity.
There was little in the data to move the needle for the Bank of England in the monthly GDP data, with a mixed bag to pick on from a notably volatile data set.