Monthly GDP growth of the UK 1997-2021

The gross domestic product of the United Kingdom grew by 0.9 percent in November 2021, the fastest monthly growth rate recorded since June 2021. The UK economy is still reeling from the impact of COVID-19, and the huge 18.9 percent hit to the economy in April 2020, which occurred due to the unprecedented public health measures enforced to contain the spread of the virus. As a result, several businesses have closed temporarily or even collapsed completely as a result of the economic damage.

Over 4.7 million workers still on furlough

In an effort to limit the inevitable damage to the labor market, the UK government introduced a scheme whereby they will temporarily pay 80 percent of an employees' wages, up to 2.5 thousand pounds a month, provided they are kept on the payroll of their respective employers. As of December 31, 2020 there were more than 4.7 million jobs furloughed on the job retention scheme. Of these furloughed jobs, over a 1.1 million were in the accommodation and food service sector, and a further 938 thousand were retail jobs, due to these two sectors being the most vulnerable to lockdown restrictions.

 When will the economy recover?

With so many unknowns regarding the course of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic it is difficult to say when the economy will recover, and how strong that recovery will be. According to forecasts from the European Commission, all of Europe's economies will suffer a hit to GDP in 2020, followed by a return to growth in 2021. For the UK specifically, GDP fell by 9.9 percent in 2020, but is expected to grow by four percent in 2021, and then by 7.3 in 2022.