The U.K. economy grew 0.3 percent in the second-quarter of this year, in line with expectations. However, the Office for National Statistics noted a “notable slowdown” in the first half of 2017.

The U.K. had grown at a pace of 0.2 percent in the first quarter of this year. The slight uptick in the British economy was driven by services, mainly retail trade, which rebounded after a drop in the first three-months of the year, and also by film production and distribution; preliminary data showed Wednesday.

However, construction and manufacturing dragged down the economic performance, after registering two consecutive quarters of growth.

“The economy has experienced a notable slowdown in the first half of this year,” Darren Morgan, head of national accounts at the ONS said in a statement. The U.K. was one of the fastest growing economies last year.

The International Monetary Fund downgraded its economic forecasts for the U.K. last Monday. Following weak growth in the first quarter of the year, the IMF decided to lower its GDP forecast to 1.7 percent from 2 percent.

Sterling fell slightly following the data release. It was trading at $1.3013, down by 0.08 percent.

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Source: cnbc
UK economy expands 0.3 percent in second quarter, meets estimate, sterling slips