The Office of National Statistics said its initial estimate of 3.1% was a touch light but confirmed its 0.8% quarterly growth estimate.
This came a day after Germany and France announced quarterly GDP fall of 0.2% and a flat-line respectively.
Output levels in some major parts of the economy have also notched up during the second quarter with a 1% rise in the service sector and a 0.3% rise in production however construction output was flat and agriculture fell by 0.2%.
The was also positive news on consumer confidence with Lloyds Bank’s ‘Spending Power Report’ for July saying overall consumer confidence has risen to a new high of 147 points after a slight dip in June. Lloyds said the run of good news on the economy like the GDP numbers and falling unemployment was behind the uptick in confidence.
Overall the improving consumer confidence tallies with easing pressure from spending on essentials. Overall essential spending fell by around 0.5% on a year ago, the first decrease in the history of the Spending Power Report.
The picture for the UK is more nuanced than the GDP data would suggest however as earlier in the week the ONS reported that average wages had fallen 0.2% over the past year and only grown 0.6% when bonuses were removed from the calculations.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney described the number as remarkably weak in comments which were largely interpreted as pushing back the timeframe for an interest rate rise.
