UK economy grows by monthly 1.1% in September, slower than expected

Britain's economy grew by a slower than expected 1.1% in September from August, even before the latest restrictions on businesses, official data showed

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy, which has struggled to maintain its recovery from its coronavirus lockdown crash, grew by a slower than expected 1.1% in September from August, even before the latest restrictions on businesses, official data showed.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a monthly growth rate of 1.5% in September.

In the July-September period, gross domestic product grew by a record 15.5% compared with the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said.

The Reuters poll had pointed to GDP growth of 15.8% in the third quarter as the economy tried to recover from its nearly 20% crash in the second quarter.

 

Last week, the Bank of England said the world's sixth-biggest economy was likely to shrink by a record 11% in 2020 before growing by just over 7% in 2021.

However, since then news of a potentially effective COVID-19 vaccine has raised hopes that next year's bounce-back could be stronger than the BoE's forecast.

 

(Reporting by Andy Bruce and William Schomberg; Editing by Alistair Smout)