Responding to the latest GDP figures, which show the UK economy grew by 0.5% in the third quarter of this year, James Sproule, Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors, said:
“Although today’s figures undershot expectations, the news is still broadly positive. Rising wages are underpinning consumer spending, and growth in the dominant service sector continues to be healthy. The construction sector was weaker than hoped, but it is an inherently volatile, and small, part of the economy.
“The challenge now for the UK is to achieve sustainable growth which is based on improving productivity. Demographic trends and technological change mean that businesses will have to be agile to respond quickly to changing consumer demand to find the kinds of productivity gains in the future which we have been used to in the past.”