THE UK economy grew by 2.1% in August thanks to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme but the pace of recovery slowed.
The GDP rise is the fourth consecutive monthly increase after the economy crashed during the peak of the coronavirus crisis.
The UK economy grew by 2.1% in August thanks to the Eat Out to Help Out schemeBut it’s less than half of what experts had expected, and a major slowdown since July, the figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
Analysts expected that GDP would increase by 4.6%, according to a survey by Pantheon Macroeconomics.
In July, GDP was up by 6.4%, and in June it rose by 9.1%, according to ONS data.
GDP for August is 21.7% higher than its April low, when the economy crashed 19.5%, but it still remains 9.2% below February’s level.
Monthly GDP estimates are subject to more uncertainty than usual though and could change.
The accommodation and food services sub-sector boosted GDP in August, as the combined impact of the easing of lockdown rules, the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, and people choosing summer staycations, the ONS said.
The figures come after the UK plunged into its worst ever recession last month, following a quarterly GDP drop of 20.4%.
It was the first time in 11 years that the UK tipped into a recession.
Economists consider two consecutive three-month periods where GDP falls as the technical definition of a recession.
Although GDP rose month-on-month in August and by 8% in the three months to August, the UK is still in a recession given its two previous consecutive quarterly falls.
UK unemployment has so far risen by 730,000 workers since March after another 114,000 Brits lost their jobs in July.
Around 220,000 workers lost their jobs in the quarter between April and June, which is the largest quarterly drop since 2009.
In July, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted unemployment could treble this year to 3million, up from 1.3million in 2019.
The OBR said the true number of job losses depends on what companies do when the furlough scheme ends in October.