The British economy plunged into a deep recession as it shrank 20.4 per cent between April and June at the height of the coronavirus lockdown, according to recent figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). UK chancellor for treasury Rishi Sunak said the hard times he had warned about have arrived and that many more jobs will be lost.

The United Kingdom has tipped into a recession for the first time in 11 years. The ONS data showed that it fell by 2.2 per cent between January and March. “I’ve said before that hard times were ahead, and today’s figures confirm that hard times are here,” Sunak told a TV channel.

 

“Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly in the coming months many more will. But while there are difficult choices to be made ahead, we will get through this, and I can assure people that nobody will be left without hope or opportunity,” he said.

 

“The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record, Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said.

 

“The economy began to bounce back in June, with shops reopening, factories beginning to ramp up production and house-building continuing to recover. Despite this, GDP in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck,” said Athow.

 

“Overall, productivity saw its largest-ever fall in the second quarter. Hospitality was worst hit, with productivity in that industry falling by threequarters in recent months,” he added.

 

The sharp fall in output was largely driven by the lockdown induced closure of shops, hotels, restaurants and schools, with the services sector suffering the biggest quarterly decline on record. On a month-on-month basis, the economy grew by 8.7 per cent in June, building on growth in May.

Source: fibre2fashion.com