In its quarterly economic survey, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has released information that shows how Britain’s economy is demonstrating steady growth, with instances of growth at pre-recession levels also being recorded.
Despite the report’s findings, business leaders have called for interest rates to stay at their low level for the foreseeable future, particularly because of a weak start to 2015 when compared to the final quarter of 2014.
Export and investment, which are crucial sectors for the health of the UK economy, reported weaker results for the first quarter of 2015, while manufacturing and services firms also showed a decline in growth.
According to the BCC, the first quarter of this year saw manufacturing and exports remain at the same level (plus 23 per cent), while businesses in the services sector were said to have less confidence in the UK recovery.
However, contradicting the BCC publication, the most recent Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys indicated that there was accelerating growth for both the services and manufacturing sectors during March.
Overall, the PMI showed growth at 0.7 per cent for the first quarter of 2015, up from 0.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2014.
While expectations surrounding job creation have fallen slightly, many experts have argued that businesses remain optimistic about the future of the economy, and that a slight fall in growth is to be expected after such successful results in 2014.