UK economy avoids recession with 0.6% growth in Q1, boosting Jeremy Hunt’s hopes for recovery”.

The UK economy has shown signs of recovery after growing by 0.6% in the first quarter of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics. This growth was stronger than the 0.4% improvement predicted by economists and marks a turnaround from two quarters of decline in the latter half of 2023, signifying a technical recession.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt expressed his optimism about the GDP figures, stating that the economy is starting to return to full health for the first time since the pandemic. He highlighted the UK’s strong growth prospects compared to other G7 countries and mentioned benefits such as rising wages, falling energy prices, and tax cuts for workers. The growth was driven by improvements in both services and production sectors, with notable contributions from sectors like human health, social services, and retail.

Despite the overall positive growth, construction output saw a slight decline during the quarter but was less significant compared to the previous month. ONS director Liz McKeown noted that the positive growth was mainly driven by strength in service industries, with good performances from retail, public transport, health, and car manufacturers. Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves cautioned against celebrating too soon, reminding that although this is a positive development it is still smaller than it was before Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister.

In summary: The UK economy has avoided recession thanks to its 0.6% growth in Q1 2023 which was stronger than predicted by economists; Chancellor Jeremy Hunt sees this as a sign of economic recovery and highlights benefits such as rising wages; Labor’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves warns against celebrating too soon as it’s still smaller than it was before Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister; Despite overall positive growth in all sectors except construction output which saw slight decline but less significant compared to previous month.