UK GDP grows for second quarter running in 2015

Gross domestic product in the UK was estimated to be 0.7% higher in the second quarter of 2015, figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The growth is higher than the 0.4% increase in economy growth in the first quarter.

Compared to the second quarter of 2014, the GDP, which is considered the main indicator of economic growth, was 2.6% higher between April and June 2015. The report by the ONS showed that the production and service sector lifted the UK economy to pre-crisis levels. The production sector saw a 1% jump in output, the biggest leap since 2010, where service output grew by 0.7%. Agriculture was down 0.7%, compared to a fall of 2.3% in the first quarter, and construction output saw no change.

ONS Chief Economist Joe Grice said: "After a slowdown in the first quarter of 2015, overall GDP growth has returned to that typical of the previous two years." Grice added that the economic recovery was very different per sector and said growth was fuelled by the service sector and the strongest growth in the mining and quarrying industry since the late 1980s.

The return to economic growth rates similar to those before 2008 signals a recovery from the financial crisis in the UK. A stronger growth in the gross domestic product is also one of the main tell tales for an interest rate hike. The Bank of England's policy committee members have already mentioned the GDP to be one of the main indicators they consider when discussing an increase in the interest rate.

The second quarter included the run-up to the General Election in May and the majority Conservative win. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who announced his plans for economic policies in the government's 2015 Summer Budget, tweeted:

Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The economic fundaments look broadly positive for the UK, particularly for the consumer, and we believe growth will be healthy through the second half of the year."