The UK economy grew by 1% in Q3 in comparison to the same period last year according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The largest contribution to the increase came from the services sector which was up by 1.3% and the boost from the Olympics and Paralympics.

There was also an increase in activity in the production sector by 1.1%. Activity in the construction sector fell by 2.5%.

Output of the production industries was estimated to have increased by 1.1% in Q3 2012 compared with Q2 2012, following a decrease of 0.7% between Q1 2012 and Q2 2012.

The ONS said that the economy had contracted by 6.4% between the start of 2008 and the middle of 2009, and had since recovered about half of that output.

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