The UK economy grew more than expected in February, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.

The UK’s GDP grew by 0.5% in February, a shock to economists who had predicted no economic growth in the winter month.

Services and manufacturing sectors are the main culprits, as their activity picked up after a slow start to the year.

January had seen no growth, so the boost in February gives greater confidence to the Labour government and its Plan for Change to transform and strengthen the British economy.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been leading the charge for economic growth, while inflation continues to rise, sewing further doubt among consumers.

“These growth figures are an encouraging sign – but we are not complacent – we must keep going further and faster on our Plan for Change,” Reeves said in her response to the data.

“The world has changed, and we have witnessed that change in recent weeks,“ she continued. “This government will remain pragmatic and cool-headed as we seek to secure the best deal with the United States that is in our national interest.

“At the same time we will be relentless in our work to kickstart economic growth, provide security for working people and renewal for Britain.“

The UK is among the myriad countries the US will hit with tariffs after a 90 day pause on the action – the UK will face a 10% tariff on all goods entering the US, which could injure British exporters and overall economic growth.

Businesses are already concerned about the recent rise in taxes, as well as water and energy bills, and increases in council tax. The cost-of-living crisis appears to have not faded away despite efforts. Global uncertainty has certainly not helped the overall economic outlook.

Within manufacturing, factories showed an uptick in activity, with production growing 1.5% in February, a turnaround since its 0.5% fall in January.

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The services sector, the UK’s largest, grew by 0.3% in February, though it did see 0.1% growth in January. Construction also grew in February, by 0.4%, after a 0.3% fall in the former month.

“The economy grew strongly in February with widespread growth across both services and manufacturing industries,” ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said.

“Within services, computer programming, telecoms and car dealerships all had strong months, while in manufacturing, electronics and pharmaceuticals led the way and car manufacturing also picked up after its recent poor performance.

“Across the last three months as a whole, the economy also grew strongly with broad-based growth across services industries.”