UK economy picks up in January

Britain's economy picked up in January after a weak December but the bigger picture remained one of growth stuck in low gear ahead of Brexit, official data showed.

The country's giant services industry more than reversed its fall in December and there was a turnaround in manufacturing which has shown other signs of factories ramping up their stocks to hedge against the risk of a chaotic Brexit.

Gross domestic product in January alone jumped by 0.5 percent, its biggest increase since December 2016, more than reversing a 0.4 percent fall in December.

Smoothing out the volatility, growth in the three months to January held at a sluggish 0.2 percent, the same pace as in the last three months of 2018.

“Across the latest three months, growth remained weak with falls in manufacture of metal products, cars and construction, repair work all dampening economic growth,” Rob Kent-Smith, an ONS statistician, said.

Britain's economy looks set for its weakest growth in 10 years in 2019, even if it pulls off a last-minute deal to smooth its exit from the European Union, according to Bank of England projections.