by Andy Bruce and David Milliken
PARIS (Reuters) – The British economy contracted sharply in July amid strikes in hospitals and schools which weighed on production, according to official data published on Wednesday.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.5% in July compared to June, the lowest level since December 2022, after growth by 0.5% the previous month.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a contraction of just 0.2% in July.
Over one year, GDP stagnated while the consensus expected an increase of 0.4% after a gain of 0.9% in June.
In detail, all the main sectors of the economy – services, manufacturing and construction – declined in July.
These figures underline the fragility of the British economy, whose GDP is evolving at a rate perhaps much lower than what the Bank of England (BoE) had forecast before its meeting on September 22.
After the publication of this data, the pound sterling fell against the American currency and the European currency, to respectively 1.2455 dollars and 0.86275 euros.
(Reporting Andy Bruce and David Milliken; Claude Chendjou, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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