LONDON, Aug 15 Reuters Britain39;s economy grew 0.6 in the second quarter of 2024, in line with economists39; expectations and building on a rapid 0.7 recovery in the first quarter of the year after a shallow recession in the second half of 2023, official figures showed.

In June alone, Britain39;s level of gross domestic product was unchanged, also in line with economists39; forecasts in a Reuters poll, and compared with a year earlier it was 0.7 higher, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

These figures confirm that the UK39;s recovery from recession picked up steam in the second quarter, despite strike action and wet weather causing activity to flatline in June, said Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

However, he said he expected growth would slow in the second half of 2024 due to interest rates which remain near a 16year high, despite this month39;s Bank of England cut, and also persistent supply constraints and slower wage growth.

There was little immediate market reaction to the data.

At the start of the month the BoE raised its annual growth forecast for 2024 to 1.25 from 0.5 due to a strongerthanexpected start to the year and an expectation of 0.7 quarteronquarter growth in the three months to June.

But it was less upbeat about the outlook for the remainder of 2024, seeing growth slow to 0.4 in the third quarter and 0.2 in the final three months of the year which it views as…