UK GDP rebounded nicely to start 2019, after a sharp slowing in December as manufacturing, construction, and services output all increased in January to retrace the previous month’s declines, explains the analysis team at Royal Bank of Canada.

“The monthly data can be volatile, but this latest reading will help allay fears that the UK economy is grinding to a halt amid Brexit uncertainty. Still, survey data point to Brexit continuing to weigh on business sentiment. On balance, our forecast assumes we’ll see another quarter of subtrend 0.2% growth to start this year.”