国际英语资讯:Stronger British economic growth points to rate rise in August, but political uncertainty ma_时事

国际英语资讯:Stronger British economic growth points to rate rise in August, but political uncertainty ma

LONDON, July 10 -- The British economy is returning to modest growth rates after a poor first quarter caused largely by poor weather, signalling good conditions for the Bank of England (BoE) to raise interest rates.

The economy grew by 0.3 percent in May, and 0.2 percent over the three months to the end of May, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), an improvement on the surprisingly poor growth recorded for the first quarter of 0.1 percent.

"This is the first piece of hard evidence that backs the case for a rate hike," Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, a London-based financial research firm, told Xinhua.

Growth was led by services, up 0.4 percent over the three months and retail sales figures were strong, up 0.9 percent over the same period, boosted by the royal wedding and good weather.

Construction was markedly stronger, growing 2.9 percent in May regaining some of the lost ground from the bad weather of the first quarter, but not fully recovering with the sector showing a 1.7 percent decline over the three-month period.

"There are clear signs the economy has recovered from the snow-related disruption in the first quarter and in particular we are seeing strength in the services part of the economy."

Despite a rise on the month, manufacturing output contracted on a three-month basis for the third consecutive month in May, with the sector contracting 1.2 percent over the three months, with export performance behind the drop-off in performance.