Britain’s economy expanded in the first month of the year in a sign the recession that ended 2023 is already over.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.2pc in January, according to the Office for National Statistics.

It follows a 0.3pc decline in the final three months of 2023, which officially plunged Britain into a technical recession following a 0.1pc contraction in the previous three months.

The figures will give a boost to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who pledged to get the economy growing again.

The growth comes despite the economy facing a worklessness crisis, with a total of 9.25 million people of working age now classed as economically inactive, up from 8.55 million in February 2020.

Almost three million of these people - who are neither in work nor looking for a job - are under-25s, a rise of 384,000 over the past four years.

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