Britain's April through June GDP estimate bumped up slightly

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Britain's Office of National Statistics said the country's economy rose 0.7 percent in the second quarter, topping expectations.

The ONS said the service sector in the April through June period rose 0.6 percent, contributing 0.5 percentage points to the gross domestic product's overall growth.

Construction and manufacturing also contributed, the data office said.

The British economy, not far removed from a recession, had 0.3 percent growth in the first quarter following a decline of 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.