UK economic output jumps ahead of Mideast war

LONDON

Britain's economy grew much stronger than expected in February, prior to the start of the Middle East war, official data showed Thursday ahead of a likely hit from the U.S.-Iran conflict.

U.K. gross domestic product growth climbed to 0.5 percent in February compared with expansion of 0.1 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Analysts' consensus forecast had been for GDP growth of 0.1 percent in February, while Britain's output ahead is expected to suffer from soaring energy prices caused by the war.