the uk economy swung to expansion in october as services activity was boosted by an additional working day after septembers bank holiday but activity is set to take a downturn in the months ahead the uks gross domestic product grew by 05 in october on month after a 06 contraction in september according to data from the office for national statistics released monday the reading beats the 04 expansion expected from economists polled by the wall street journal the monthly expansion was led by the services sector driven by gains in the wholesale and retail trade while manufacturing output expanded by 07 on month the ons said the economy was also partly boosted because the number of working days normalized in october after septembers holiday due to the queen elisabeth iis funeral however gdp declined 03 in the three months through october more than the 02 contraction in the quarter to september the uk economy is widely expected to slide to a recession due to the costofliving crisis rising price pressures and high uncertainty gdp is expected to contract by 03 in the fourth quarter and by another 03 in the first and second quarters of 2023 according to a consensus forecast from factset