UK economy on ‘stronger footing’ than expected before energy shock after February growth surge – business live

UK economy smashes forecasts with 0.5% growth in February, but economists fear growth will now slow sharply due to Iran war

The UK’s growth acceleration in February is likely to be “short-lived”, due to the Iran war, warns Andrew Hunter, associate director and senior economist at Moody’s Analytics:

“The 0.5% month-over-month jump in U.K. GDP in February, and slight upward revision to January’s data, echoes the earlier improvement in the surveys and suggests the economy had more momentum at the start of this year than previously thought.

However, with those surveys weakening quite sharply in March as the Middle East conflict sent energy prices soaring, this upturn is likely to prove short lived.