LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy took a first step on the long road to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis in May, as activity began to pick up after lockdown restrictions began to ease.
Gross domestic product rose by 1.8% in May after slumping by a record 20.3% in April, Britain’s first full month of lockdown, the Office for National Statistics said. This was a smaller rise than the average 5.5% increase forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
Over the three months to May, the economy shrank by 19.1% and compared with a year ago it is 24.0% smaller.
(Reporting by David Milliken and Andy Bruce)
