UK economy grows 0.6% between April and June as it recovers from recession WPXI [Video]

LONDON — (AP) — Britain’s economy continued its recovery from recession at the end of last year, with its GDP increasing by 0.6% between April and June, official figures showed Thursday.

The second-quarter growth in economic activity, as measured by gross domestic product, followed a 0.7% increase in the first quarter and was in line with economists’ predictions. It was a welcome boost for the U.K.’s new Labour government, which has pledged to rebuild Britain’s economy after years of sluggish growth.

“The U.K. economy has now grown strongly for two quarters, following the weakness we saw in the second half of last year,” said Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics.

Growth was led by the service sector, in particular in technology, scientific research and legal services, the figures showed.

That partly offset some weaknesses in retail and lower output in the TV and film …