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UK economy in recession after 20.4% second quarter slump

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The British economy has fallen into recession after official figures Wednesday showed it contracting by a record 20.4% in the second quarter as a …
The British economy has fallen into recession after official figures Wednesday showed it contracting by a record 20.4% in the second quarter as a result of lockdown measures put in place to counter the coronavirus pandemic. The slump recorded by the Office for National Statistics follows a 2.2% quarter-on-quarter contraction in the first three months of the year. It was toward the end of that period — on March 23 — that the U. K. joined other countries in Europe in locking down its economy. As such, the U. K. economy is in recession — commonly defined as two quarters of contraction. Britain’s recession is deeper than those recorded by comparable economies in Europe, notably Germany and France, or the United States. Unlike others, Britain’s statistics agency provides monthly growth figures and these offer some hope that the economy is healing as lockdown restrictions are eased. In June, the British economy grew by a monthly 8.7%. “The economy began to bounce back in June with shops reopening, factories beginning to ramp up production and house-building continuing to recover,“ said statistician Jonathan Athow.

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