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How the services sector helped UK economy to smash forecasts<\/p>\n
\u201cWidespread growth\u201d across the UK services sector helped the economy to expand strongly in February, by an impressive 0.5%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s GDP report shows that 12 of the 14 subsectors of the services economy grew during the month, helping services to grow by 0.5%.<\/p>\n \u201cAdministrative and support service activities\u201d made the largest contribution (up 2.0%), due to a pickup in hiring activity.<\/p>\n The second largest positive contribution came from wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (up 0.7%).<\/p>\n Professional, scientific, and technical activities also contributed to the growth, with a rise of 0.8% in February 2026.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.21 EDT<\/p>\n Chart: How UK growth was accelerating before Middle East conflict Illustration: ONSShare<\/a>ONS: Growth increased further in the three months to February<\/p>\n The UK economy also grew by 0.5% in the three months to February, helped by the end of the cyber-attack disruption at Jaguar Land Rover last autumn.<\/p>\n That\u2019s up from 0.3% growth in the three months to January.<\/p>\n ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner says:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cGrowth increased further in the three months to February led by broad-based increases across services.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin services, growth was driven by wholesaling, market research, hospitality, and publishing, which all performed well in the three months to February. Meanwhile car production recovered from the effects of the autumn cyber incident.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowth in services and production was partially offset by another fall in construction, albeit at a slower rate than previously, with leasing and intellectual property licencing also continuing to contract.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>UK economy smashes forecasts with 0.5% growth in February<\/p>\n Newsflash: The UK economy was growing much faster than expected before the Iran war jolted global activity.<\/p>\n UK GDP rose by 0.5% in February, new data from the Office for National Statistics shows. That\u2019s much stronger than the 0.1% growth the City had expected.<\/p>\n The ONS reports that services and production both grew by 0.5%, and construction grew by 1.0% in February.<\/p>\n January\u2019s GDP data has been revised up too \u2013 to show 0.1% growth, rather than stagnation.<\/p>\n In normal times would be a significant boost to Rachel Reeves.<\/p>\n However, this data is somewhat historic, as the Middle East conflict is reshaping the prospects for the global economy this year, driving up energy and fuel prices, and borrowing costs, and hurting confidence.<\/p>\n Earlier this week the IMF cut its forecast for UK growth in 2026 to 0.8%, down from 1.3%.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.18 EDT<\/p>\n China’s economy beats forecast in first quarter<\/p>\n Economic growth in China has accelerated in the last quarter, in an encouraging start to the year for Beijing.<\/p>\n China\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5%, year on year, in the first quarter of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released today shows.<\/p>\n That\u2019s 0.5 percentage points faster than in the fourth quarter of 2025,<\/p>\n The NBS says \u201cThe national economy got off to a good start\u201d, explaining:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cThe growth of production and supply accelerated, market demand continued to improve, employment was generally stable, market prices picked up moderately, and high-quality development advanced with new and positive momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Reeves gives more energy bill support to businesses as Iran war pushes up costs Rachel Reeves has announced an expansion of support for the most energy-intensive UK businesses, as they face soaring bills as a result of the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n The chancellor said the long-promised British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) would be expanded to cover 10,000 companies, up from the 7,000 originally announced.<\/p>\n The scheme, which the government says will cut companies\u2019 bills by up to 25%, will not come into operation until next year, although in a significant concession Reeves said support would then be backdated to this month.<\/p>\n The announcement was welcomed by business groups, but some criticised the fact the money would not arrive until next April, urging Reeves to bring support forward as they face a looming crisis as a result of the ongoing closure of the strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Richard_Partington,_R.png\")
Richard Partington<\/p>\n