Closing post
Time to recap….
The UK economy expanded by only 0.1% in the final three months of last year, according to official data, as falling business investment and weak consumer spending led to little momentum going into 2026.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the economy grew at the same rate of 0.1% as the previous three months. This was less than a 0.2% rise that economists had been expecting.
The economy grew by 1.3% in 2025, an improvement on growth of 1.1% in 2024, although worse than official forecasts of 1.5%. The ONS said the economy also expanded by 0.1% on a monthly basis in December, slowing from 0.2% in November – a figure that was revised down from 0.3%.
The rise came despite there being no growth at all in the dominant services sector, which makes up about 80% of the economy. The small boost was instead driven by the production sector, up by 1.2%, while the construction industry shrank 2.1%, its worst performance in four years, the ONS said.
The data left the UK as the fastest growing European member of the G7 in 2025.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves predicted that growth would be stronger in 2026, pointing to the government’s efforts to lift the economy.
Economists warned, though, that the UK ended 2025 in the ‘slow lane’.
There were calls for the Bank of England to cut interest rates at its next meeting, in March.
The London stock market hit a fresh record high, over 10,500 points, before slipping back this afternoon.
Guinness strike threat ends as workers in Belfast win pay boost
Industrial action has the potential to slow economic growth, so the chancellor may be relieved that a strike at Diageo’s Guinness zero canning plant in Belfast has been cancelled.
Following a eight-day strike in December, staff at the site have now secured a significant pay increase.
The Unite union reports that workers’ pay will rise by 15.5% in a three-year deal, with the first year backdated to September 2024.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham says:
“The Diageo workers have won an excellent pay increase through union strength in the workplace and their determination to take strike action. Their strike in December shut down the plant and secured this significant win on pay.”
