The British economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1 percent in November

The UK economy unexpectedly delivered modest growth in November, reducing the likelihood that numbers will show it slipped into a technical recession in the final quarter of last year despite a gloomy overall picture.

Gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent in November from October, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday, beating the average forecast for a 0.2 percent contraction in a Reuters poll of economists.

In the three months to the end of November, the economy contracted 0.3 percent, according to economists’ forecasts, but this was due to a 0.6 percent fall in output in September, when many businesses closed to mark Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

“The economy grew a bit in November, with telecoms and computer programming helping to propel the economy forward. Pubs and bars have also done well as people have gone out to watch World Cup matches,” said ONS statistician Darren Morgan.

The ONS said GDP would have to fall by about 0.5 percent in December for fourth-quarter growth to be negative when rounded to one decimal place, assuming no further revisions.

Two consecutive negative quarters is the commonly used definition of a recession in Europe.

More broadly, Brits are already being plagued by double-digit inflation, which is depressing living standards, and the government’s budget watchdog is forecasting output to fall this year.

Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt said after the GDP data that “the most important help we can give is to stick to the plan to halve inflation this year to get the economy growing again”.