Britain’s Economic Growth Returns in August

Britain’s economy returned to growth in August after contracting for the first time in six months in July, keeping bets in the financial market that the Bank of England will start raising interest rates before the end of the year.

The gross domestic product grew 0.4% in August, slightly less than market expectations in a Reuters poll of experts after downwardly revised to show a 0.1% decline in July when employee absences linked to the spread of the delta strain of the coronavirus peaked.

And official data showed that the British economy grew slightly in July with the spread of the delta strain of Covid-19 rapidly after the easing of lockdown restrictions, as the Office for National Statistics said that economic output rose only 0.1% in July, the smallest monthly increase since January when Britain imposed a new general closure, before adjusting it down.