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		</div><p>UK economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of this year, driven by the highest quarterly pick-up in manufacturing since the 1980s as the original Brexit deadline loomed.</p>
<p>Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rose to 0.5% between January and March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).</p>
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<p>This compares to 0.2% growth in the previous quarter, when car manufacturing declined at its steepest rate in just under a decade.</p>
<p>In comparison with the same quarter a year ago, GDP was up 1.8%.</p>
<p>Production output increased by 1.4% in the quarter.</p>
<p>This was boosted by a 2.2% rise in manufacturing, the industry’s highest output since the third quarter of 1988.</p>
<p>The ONS noted that many manufacturers had delivered orders early, indicating a rush of activity as companies cleared out the order books in advance of the March 29 Brexit deadline.</p>
<p>Pharmaceuticals in particular showed high activity, growing 9.4%.</p>
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<p>Inventories were also a contributing factor, as some businesses stockpiled parts due to concerns over supply disruption if the UK crashed out of the EU without a deal.</p>
<p>The rate at which inventories increased was the highest for any G7 country.</p>
<p>Meanwhile services output slowed to 0.3%, despite strengthening retail sales.</p>
<p>The deceleration echoes the trend noted by the Markit UK Services Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for March, when companies opted to delay spending due to the uncertainty over Brexit.</p>
<p>But there was a sharp pick-up in retail sales, up 1.6%.</p>
<p>Construction output increased by 1%, driven by a 2.9% rise in repair and GDPmaintenance work.</p>
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<p>Output of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector fell by 1.8%, providing the only negative contribution to growth.</p>
<p>Following a full year of decline in 2018, business investment recovered to post a 0.5% increase in the first quarter of 2019 as firms put more money into IT equipment and other machinery.</p>
<p>But the ONS warned that the figures could be revised, with some external evidence suggesting confidence remained weak during the period.</p>
<p>The Government’s consumption increased by 1.4%, up slightly on 1.3% in the final quarter of last year.</p>
<p>The ONS data dump also showed that the trade deficit widened to 3.4% of nominal GDP in the quarter.</p>
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