UK NIESR said, “with catch-up potential still evident in consumer-facing services and the continued effects of reopening, we expect growth in July of 1 per cent, and 2.4 per cent for the third quarter of 2021 overall.” But that reflected the assumption that Covid-19 cases will “continue to wane and remaining domestic restrictions imposed by governments and businesses will be lifted over the course of the third quarter.”
“GDP increased by 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2021, in line with our GDP tracker a month ago. More frequent visits to GPs meant that the health and social work sector was the largest contributor to June growth, while construction continued to slow after a strong start to the year. We expect growth to slow in the third quarter but still remain high by historical standards on the assumption of waning Covid-19 cases and lifting of all domestic restrictions by the end of the third quarter. It will be important to monitor the underlying growth rate of the economy as the opening-up effects dissipate.” Dr Hande Küçük Deputy Director – Macroeconomic Policy.