Superior UK growth

In its most recent estimate, the Office for National Statistics in the UK (ONS) said Friday the British economy logged growth of 0.8 percent in the second quarter, compared with the previous three months.

While the figure for the April-to-June period may not seem terribly impressive, the UK nevertheless managed to do better than almost all eurozone nations, with the sole exception of Latvia, which recorded 1.0-percent Q2 growth.

Year-on-year, the British economy even posted a 3.2-percent rise in gross domestic product (GDP) - more than any other big industrialized nations around the globe.

Positive outlook

The International Monetary Fund expects Britain to also log 3.2-percent growth for the whole of 2014, while only pencils in a 1.9-percent increase for Europe economic powerhouse, Germany.

The firm growth trend in the UK, which is a member of the European Union but not of the eurozone, thus contrasts sharply with the current climate in the 18-member single-currency bloc as the latter is still found struggling with the aftermath of a protracted debt crisis.

According to ONS, Britain has also made big strides on the job market. The second-quarter unemployment rate was reported to have dropped to 6.4 percent, the lowest level in more than five years. The number of jobless people fell by 132,000 to stand at 2.08 million people.

hg/cjc (Reuters, AFP)