It is the first time the UK has been in recession for 11 years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. The bleak update comes after another ONS update yesterday, warning almost three-quarters-of-a-million jobs had been lost.
The ONS said the economy is still a long way off from recovering the record falls seen in March and April after tumbling into “the largest recession on record”.
Reacting to the news, Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds, said: “We’ve already got the worst excess death rate in Europe – now we’re on course for the worst recession too
“That’s a tragedy for our country and it’s happening on the PM’s watch. A downturn was inevitable after lockdown – Johnson’s jobs crisis wasn’t.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said: “The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record.
“The economy began to bounce back in June with shops reopening, factories beginning to ramp up production and housebuilding continuing to recover.
“Despite this, GDP in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck.
“Overall, productivity saw its largest-ever fall in the second quarter. Hospitality was worst hit, with productivity in that industry falling by three-quarters in recent months.”
But monthly figures showed the economy bounced back by 8.7 percent in June, following upwardly revised growth of 2.4 percent in May, as lockdown restrictions eased.
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak, said of the figures: “Today’s figures confirm that hard times are here.
“Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly in the coming months many more will.”
The level of output in June was 16.8 percent below its level a year earlier, compared with a 23.3 percent fall for May, the figures also revealed.
The drop exceeded the 12.1 percent drop in the eurozone and the 9.5 percent quarter-on-quarter fall in the United States.