Consumer spending drives UK economy to 7th quarter of growth as exports, investment decline

London

THE biggest increase in consumer spending in more than four years drove the UK economy to a seventh straight quarter of growth, as exports and corporate investment declined.

Household spending rose 0.8 per cent in the third quarter, the most since the second quarter of 2010, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. Business investment fell 0.7 per cent, the first decline in more than a year, and exports dropped 0.4 per cent. Net trade acted as a drag on the economy.