UNITED KINGDOM

摘要

GDP advanced 0.8% (q-o-q) in Q2, maintaining the pace set in Q1 and taking output past its previous peak in early 2008. Growth was broad-based and once again driven mainly by the booming services sector, which expanded 1.0% (q-o-q). Manufacturing production grew 0.2% (q-o-q), but the construction sector contracted by 0.5%, following a 1.5% surge in the firstthree months of the year. In y-o-y terms GDP growth accelerated to a six-and-a-half-year high of 3.1%. While hard data for Q3 is currently very limited, latest indicators have fuelled hopes that the economy will continue expanding through H2 2014. The PMI for services beat expectations by jumping to 59.1 in July, from 57.7 in June. The upswing in services helped propel the composite PMI to a three-month high of 59.1 in the same month. Our panel has raised its 2014 GDP growth forecast from 3.0% to 3.1 % this month.