The UK has again dodged slipping into a recession — thanks to the national obsession with football.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the British economy grew by 0.3 percent in January, largely thanks to the Premier League resuming after the Christmas break.
That came after a 0.5 percent contraction in December, following November's wafer-thin 0.1 percent growth that was fuelled by football fans boozing it up in pubs while watching the World Cup tournament in Qatar.
"The main drivers of January's growth were the return of children to classrooms, following unusually high absences in the run-up to Christmas, the Premier League clubs returned to a full schedule after the end of the World Cup and private health providers also had a strong month," said ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan.
He added that postal services saw a partial recovery after a string of strikes over pay in December.
However, "these were somewhat offset by a notable drop in construction with a slowdown in infrastructure projects and housebuilding having another poor month, partly due to heavy rainfall," Morgan cautioned.
The growth figures for November and January have helped the UK avoid a 'technical recession' — which economists define as two consecutive quarters of 'negative growth' — despite the Europe-wide economic crisis caused by backfiring sanctions against Russia over its de-Nazification operation in Ukraine.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, who will deliver his first major budget speech next Wednesday, said the economy had "proved more resilient than many expected, but there is a long way to go."