The first interest rate rise in a decade is almost a certainty for next week after third-quarter GDP growth beat expectations to climb 0.4 per cent, economists have said.
Official figures showed that the economy accelerated in the three months to September, from 0.3 per cent in each of the previous two quarters, as British factories benefited from both stronger global growth and the cheap pound while the dominant services sector continued to power ahead.
Only the construction sector, which accounts for just 6 per cent of national output, struggled. The industry shrank for a second quarter in a row, putting it technically in recession.
The economy’s solid performance, which defied predictions of 0.3 per cent growth, cleared the final obstacle for the Bank of