LONDON: Britain's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 1.0% in June, the first full month of indoor service for many hospitality firms, and also helped by the healthcare sector due to a rise in routine medical checkups after the pandemic.
But the official data showed British gross domestic product remained 2.2% smaller than it was immediately before the pandemic struck the country, a reminder of the damage done by Britain's long coronavirus lockdowns last year.
Britain's economy slumped by almost 10% in 2020, one of the biggest hits suffered by a rich nation, and the Bank of England expects it to regain its pre-pandemic size only at the end of 2021. The US economy has already made up the hit.
The GDP figures have yet to show the impact of a surge in coronavirus cases in July although other data published on Thursday showed consumer spending in the week to Aug. 5 rose to within a whisker of its February 2020 level.
The month-on-month growth for the overall economy in June was stronger than an increase of 0.8% expected in a Reuters poll of economists.
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