UK looks set to avoid recession in the run-up to Brexit

The British economy looks like it will avoid falling into recession in the run-up to the scheduled Brexit date after official figures showed that growth held up in the three months through August.

Though the Office for National Statistics found that the British economy contracted by a monthly 0.1 per cent during August, that was offset by an equivalent upward revision to July's growth rate to 0.4 per cent.

That means that the economy would have to contract sharply in September for the third quarter as a whole to be negative. Few economists expect that to happen, not least because of evidence that firms are stockpiling goods ahead of the scheduled Brexit date of Oct 31.

Firms fear that Britain could leave the European Union without a deal, which would mean widespread disruption to supply chains and the imposition of tariffs and other impediments to trade.

Earlier this year, in the run-up to the original Brexit date of March 29, the stockpiling had helped the economy grow 0.5 per cent ..