According to official figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the UK’s economy grew slower in the first three months of the year than originally expected. The figures now say that the economy expanded by 0.2% during the first quarter when it was expected to grow by up to 0.3%.
The change is said to be due to the downward revisions of growth in the UK’s services sector. During the last quarter of 2016, the economy had shown growth and had expanded to 0.7%. The Office for National Statistics has now estimated that the service sector grew by 0.2% in the first three months of the year, down from the initial estimate of 0.3%.
The service sector in the UK accounts for around 80% of the UK’s economy and at the end of 2016 had been growing by 0.8%. The ONS has said that the growth in the industry has been ‘more subdued’ than in the past with a slowdown in consumer focused industries including retail and accommodation.