UK economy grows 0.1% in August before budget

Britain's economy grew 0.1 percent in August from the previous month, official data showed Thursday, ahead of the Labour government's budget update this month.

The Office for National Statistics said growth slowed from a 0.4 percent expansion in July. GDP in the three months to the end of August rose 0.7 percent.

Finance Minister John Healey is due to present the budget on October 28. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said difficult decisions will be needed, while Healey has pledged to maintain strict fiscal discipline and has not said whether the budget will include tax rises to help reduce Britain's debt.

Liz McKeown, the ONS director of economic statistics, said computer programming was again the largest contributor to growth in the three months to August.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said he still expected a coming rise in inflation to dampen growth, but added that the economy was more robust than he had thought.