The UK economy continued to flatline in July but grew by 0.5% in the three months to July, according to the latest official figures. Economists had expected GDP to rise by 0.2% in July. In June, there was also zero growth. Services activity picked up by 0.1% after a 0.1% dip in June, but did not show the expected strong pickup, while industrial production declined by 0.8%. Construction output was down by 0.4% in July. Services grew by 0.6% in the three months to July. There was also a 1.2% increase in construction output, while production dipped by 0.1% over this period. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said: "I am under no illusion about the scale of the challenge we face and I will be honest with the British people that change will not happen overnight. "Two quarters of positive economic growth does not make up for 14 years of stagnation. That is why we are taking the long-term decisions now to fix the foundations of our economy." The dollar fell by more than 1% against the yen to its weakest level of the year, after Kamala Harris put Donald Trump on the defensive in their television debate in the presidential race last night. The yen also got a boost from the Bank of Japan board member Junko Nakagawa, who reiterated in a speech that the central bank would continue to raise interest rates if inflation and the wider the economy moved in line with its forecasts. The dollar dropped as much as 1.2% to 140.71 yen, a level not seen since 28 December, before recovering slightly. It is also US inflation day. The annual headline rate is expected to have fallen to 2.6% from 2.9%, while the core rate, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, is set to have stayed at 3.2%. The agenda • 1.30pm BST: US inflation for August (forecast 2.6%, previous 2.9%) We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
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