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UK economy expands 0.5% in quarter UK expands 0.5% in fourth quarter
(35 minutes later)
UK economic growth up 0.5% in three months to end of December, official figures show. The UK economy grew by 0.5% in the three months to end of December, official figures show, taking the annual rate of growth for 2015 to 2.2%.
The figure, for the last quarter of the year, leaves annual growth for 2015 at 2.2%, down on 2014's growth rate of 2.9%, the Office for National Statistics said. The figures, from the Office for National Statistics show quarterly growth above the third quarter's 0.4%.
The annual pace of growth is the slowest for three years. But it leaves annual growth down on 2014's growth rate of 2.9%.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. Output in the three months to December was 1.9% higher than a year earlier, down from 2.1% in the third quarter and the smallest increase since early 2013.
If you want to receive Breaking News alerts via email, or on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App then details on how to do so are available on this help page. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts. The annual pace of growth maybe the slowest for three years but still puts the UK economy among the fastest growing among the developed nations.
The figure is in line with a recent forecast by the International Monetary Fund which said the UK's economy would growth at 2.2% in 2015, and for the next two years.
But they also suggest that the robust growth of the past two years will not return until the world economy regains strength.
'Unsettling'
Chris Williamson from Markit said:"The upturn masks an unbalanced economy and a slowing pace of expansion, with the annual rate of growth slipping to the weakest for almost three years.
"Uncertainty over 'Brexit', weak overseas growth and financial market volatility are all creating an unsettling business environment and point to downside risks to the economy in 2016.
"The coming year could easily see the pace of economic growth slow further from last year's 2.2% expansion, and the chances are growing that we will see yet another year in which interest rates are left at their record low of 0.5%," he said.
Earlier this month, figures for November showed that UK industrial output had suffered its sharpest decline since 2013.
'Cocktail'
The Chancellor, George Osborne, recently warned that the UK was facing a "cocktail" of serious threats from a slowing global economy.
Osborne: UK faces 'cocktail' of economic risks
What is the 'cocktail' of financial risks?
Senior economist, Hargreaves Lansdown, Ben Brettell, said: "Your interpretation of today's GDP figures will depend on whether you take a 'glass half full' or a 'glass half empty' view of the UK economy. The bigger picture is that growth remains lacklustre, but reasonably resilient.
"Weaker construction and production output are the primary reasons for the slowdown, which could prompt concerns that the UK economy's reliance on the services sector is increasing further.
" Production output declined 0.2% in the fourth quarter and construction was down by 0.1%, whereas the dominant services sector grew by 0.7%."