UK Set For Record-Breaking Economic Growth In Third Quarter (FT)

Britain appears to be on course to enjoy a record-breaking economic recovery in the third quarter, fuelled by consumers who are spending again after the coronavirus lockdown and a planned reopening of schools. Although the UK economy has been hit hard during the pandemic — it recorded the sharpest fall in gross domestic product in the second quarter compared with the last three months of 2019 of any G7 nation — new data on spending suggest many Britons are splashing the cash once more. Total consumer spending — including leisure — during the first two weeks of August exceeded the same period one year earlier, according to figures from Fable Data, a consultancy. This is the first time there has been annual growth in spending since the lockdown was introduced in March.

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