The UK economy returned to growth in November, expanding by 0.3% according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), surpassing the 0.1% growth forecast by economists. This follows a revised 0.1% contraction in October and an upward revision of September's figures from a 0.1% decline to 0.1% growth.
The recovery was partly driven by a rebound in car production after a cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) disrupted output earlier in the autumn. Motor vehicle manufacturing rose by 25.5% in November as JLR resumed production.
The better-than-expected data provides a boost for Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who faced criticism over the impact of pre-Budget uncertainty on the economy. However, the construction sector continued to struggle, with output falling by more than 1% in the three months to November, marking its worst slump in over two years.
In other news, regulator Ofwat has launched an investigation into South East Water following repeated outages that left tens of thousands of households without drinking water since November. Separately, the FTSE 100 closed at a record high of 10,238.94 points, supported by the positive GDP data.
