Economy grew faster than estimates

Britain’s economy maintained its robust momentum in the final three months of 2016, again wrong-footing expectations that June’s vote to leave the European Union would rapidly take its toll on growth.

Gross domestic product rose at a quarterly rate of 0.6 per cent between October and December, Britain’s Office for National Statistics said, maintaining the above-average pace seen in the first three months after June’s Brexit referendum.

Economists had forecast a slight slowdown to growth of 0.5 per cent.

Compared with a year earlier, the economy grew by 2.2 per cent, again slightly faster than expected. But looking at 2016 as a whole,