The UK economy was confirmed to have grown by 0.2% between the months of April and June 2011, the ONS reported late last week.
One-off factors, including the extra bank holiday for the royal wedding and the Japanese tsunami, were said to have impacted upon the figure, as both the industrial and services sector saw output drop.
Growth earlier in the year, between January and March, was 0.5%.
The news will have come as a relief to a lot of government representatives as the UK topped both France and Germany for growth in Q2, which was especially surprising after Germany had been leading euro zone growth so far in 2011.
The lower economic growth for Q2 came however amidst further consumer confidence crises, with pay stalling, jobs being lost and inflation hitting spenders’ pockets hard.
Q3 is expected to see better growth, though only due to the fact there are no factors such as a long bank holiday weekend to inhibit figures, say economists.