British economic growth confounds the Brexit prophets of doom
London — Britain’s economy grew faster in the fourth quarter than economists predicted, despite their claims that the Brexit vote would derail the expansion. The economy showed growth for the 16th quarter running, coming in at 0.6% versus the 0.5% median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Growth was driven by services, helped by consumer spending but with no support from production and construction, said the Office for National Statistics. Though the British economy did better than predicted since the June vote to leave the EU it still relies too much on one sector. Now economists predict a slowdown to 1.2% this year, saying consumption may weaken as the pound’s decline pushes up inflation, squeezing real incomes.
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