Growth upgrade brightens picture

THE economy grew faster in the first quarter of the year than Government statisticians had thought. Final estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today said gross domestic product increased 0.7% in the quarter, compared with previous estimates of 0.6%.

The upgrading was partly due to a rise in companies' investment in plant and machinery.

A key indicator of corporate confidence, the data showed a 1.7% quarter-on-quarter increase compared with the previous estimate of 1.1%.

The figures raised questions about the accuracy of official estimates. Private surveys have shown a much healthier manufacturing base than the ONS data.

Today's figures also showed that spending by households was surprisingly weak, downgraded to 0.6% quarter-on-quarter from 0.9% in the last estimate.