George Osborne has said that GDP figures show recovery is steady

George Osborne has said that the UK economic performance figures show the recovery is "steady" which is better than expected at this time.

Osborne said the "lion's share" of the recovery had come from the private sector.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests the economy grew at 0.8% between July and September - twice the rate expected by many analysts.

The chancellor said this would improve confidence, with Treasury sources adding it showed the risk of a "double-dip" recession was being overplayed.

But Labour said the speed of spending cuts could damage the recovery.

The latest gross domestic product (GDP) figure follows 1.2% growth in the second quarter of the year, and is double the 0.4% expected by analysts. But the data is only a first estimate, and may be revised.