The budget chopping only just arrived, so these numbers are about to change rapidly. Also, it's fair to credit the last government with the last two quarters as the new Tory government had yet to implement any serious changes until now. The fact that the growth was also moving in a downward direction from the second to the third quarter should be a warning though traders are always looking for some small detail to pocket money. If only those trading benefits trickled down to customers, but that's not how the system works today.
The Office for National Statistics said Britain's economy grew 0.8 percent between July and September, down from the 1.2 percent registered in the second quarter but at the very top end of economists' forecasts.
Sterling jumped against the dollar and the euro and gilts tumbled as investors reckoned BoE policymakers would struggle to make the case for more monetary stimulus next month, even if growth is expected to slow sharply at the start of 2011.
"It's much stronger than expected," said Alan Clarke, UK economist at BNP Paribas.
