GDP up by 0.5% thanks to services, production and agriculture

FIGURES released today show that gross domestic product in the UK has risen by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2015.

Growth in the second quarter, from April to June, was higher than this, reaching 0.7%.

GDP was 2.3% higher in the third quarter this year compared to the same period in 2014.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, output increased in three of the main industrial groupings; services, which went up by 0.7%, production improved 0.3% and agriculture rose 0.5%.

The picture does not look as rosy for the construction sector, where growth decreased by 2.2%, and manufacturing fell by 0.3%, but the ONS said this was offset by a 2.4% increase in mining and quarrying as well as an increase of 1.2% in water and waste management.