UK economy expands 0.6% in second quarter; June growth stalls

The U.K. economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday, continuing the country's cautious recession rebound.

The reading was in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters and follows an expansion of 0.7% in the first quarter.

Economic growth was flat in June, in line with a Reuters poll, as activity in the U.K.'s dominant services sector dipped 0.1%. Construction and production output rose by a respective 0.5% and 0.8% in the month.

The British economy has recorded slight but steady growth almost every month so far this year, as the U.K. exits a shallow recession. GDP was also flat in April, when wet weather quelled retail sales and construction output.

On an annual basis the economy was 0.9% bigger in the second quarter, against a forecast of 0.8%.

"These figures confirm that the UK's recovery from recession picked up steam in the second quarter, despite strike action and wet weather causing activity to flatline in June," Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said in a note.

"The UK's strong second quarter owes more to temporary momentum from the large recent falls in inflation and a boost to consumer spending from events like Euro 2024 than from a meaningful improvement in the UK's underlying growth trajectory," Thiru continued.

The pace of growth is unlikely to continue into the second half amid weaker wage growth, high interest rates and supply challenges, Thiru added.

U.K. inflation rose to 2.2% in July, data published Wednesday by the ONS showed, coming in slightly below a consensus forecast of 2.3%. The headline figure had been at the Bank of England's 2% target rate for the two months