NIESR monthly estimates of GDP suggest that output grew by 0.4 per cent in the three months ending in August 2017 after growth of 0.2 per cent in the three months to July: although activity has nudged higher, the economy continues to grow below its long run trend of some 0.6 percent. Amit Kara, Head of UK Macroeconomic Forecasting at NIESR, said "We estimate that economic growth accelerated to 0.4 per cent in the three months to August. Our estimate is in line with our latest forecast for third quarter GDP which also stands at 0.4 per cent. Service sector output as well as industrial production appears to have contributed to the uptick in GDP growth.