People browsing stalls along Portobello Road Market on Feb. 22, 2025, in Notting Hill, West London.
Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images
The U.K. economy grew by a higher-than-expected 0.5% month-on-month in February amid a jump in the services output, official data showed on Friday.
Analysts had projected a monthly gross domestic product hike of 0.1% in February, according to LSEG data.
The Office for National Statistics, which published the provisional figures, said a 0.3% expansion in the services sector had driven the surprise jump in growth. In January, services had recorded a 0.1% monthly rise.
Production output saw a substantial recovery in February, notching 1.5% month-on-month growth compared to the monthly contraction of 0.5% seen in January. Construction output also staged a recovery in February, adding 0.4% on the month after falling 0.3% in January.
The British pound jumped against the dollar after the data release, rising 0.2% against the greenback to trade at $1.2988 by 7:18 a.m. in London.
In January, an early estimate showed the U.K. economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% on a monthly basis. That figure was later revised upward to show that economic growth was flat in January.