LONDON (Bloomberg) — UK economic growth slowed in the quarter through February, easing pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates for a fourth time since August, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research said.Gross domestic product rose 0.5 percent in the three months ended February 28, down from 0.7 percent in the quarter through November, the London-based research group, whose clients include the central bank and the UK Treasury, said yesterday. Economic growth slowed as service industries weakened, the report showed.

“Growth rates of both public and private-sector services output seem to have been lower,” the group said in an e-mailed press release. “If this pattern persists, then the pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates again is likely to be lower than we had anticipated a few weeks ago.”