UK GDP Data

The new PM faces unenviable challenges ahead, but he is a testament to the progress Britain has made towards becoming a multi-racial society

The UK's gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.3 per cent in August, after growth of 0.1 per cent in July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said

The statistics office said health spending was the biggest contributor to the fall, as the government scaled down coronavirus testing, contact tracing and vaccination programs.

Gross domestic product rose 1 per cent from the third quarter, fuelled by a boom in construction and government spending

"The impacts of the coronavirus were seen right across the economy, with nearly all sub-sectors falling in the three months to March," the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.

Investors took the data as a sign that the Bank of England might move more quickly towards only its second interest rate hike in more than a decade

The quarterly growth rate was unrevised at 0.3%