Mubasher: The UK economic growth picked up steam in January after shrinking by the end of last year, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday.

The UK gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.5% last January, after declining 0.4% in the final month of last year.

The UK’s service, manufacturing and construction sectors all saw their output growing during the first month of this year.

Between November and January, the growth was weaker, with the GDP rising only by 0.2%.

“Across the latest three months, growth remained weak with falls in manufacture of metal products, cars and construction repair work all dampening economic growth,” ,” the ONS's head of national accounts Rob Kent-Smith said.

“These were offset by strong performances in wholesale, IT [information technology] and health services,” Kent-Smith noted.

For the three months ended January, the service sector was the key driver for the GDP growth of 0.5%, as both construction and production segments recorded declines of 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

By 10:56 am GMT, the GBP/USD rose 0.46% to $1.3210, while the EUR/GBP fell 0.18% to GBP 0.8535.