UK economy stuck in low gear as Brexit looms

Britain’s Brexit-bound economy remains stuck in a low gear but is probably not weak enough to dissuade the Bank of England from raising interest rates next month, economic data showed.

Separately, Britain’s budget forecasters gave a gloomier medium-term outlook for the economy, potentially leaving Chancellor Philip Hammond with less room to offset any big hit from Britain’s departure from the EU.

The somewhat downbeat picture for the world’s fifth-biggest economy from a raft of data — including a record goods trade deficit — contrasted with the situation in some of Britain’s closest trading partners in the EU.