The U.K. economy experienced a pause in growth in April, as reported in flash figures released on Wednesday. This slowdown halted the sluggish recovery from the recession experienced last year. Despite this, economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated this stagnation, following a 0.4% growth in March. In addition to this, construction output also declined by 1.4% for the third consecutive month.
The modest growth seen in the first three months of the year allowed the U.K. to emerge from a shallow recession in the first quarter. However, recent data has shifted expectations for the next steps in monetary policy by the Bank of England, which is set to meet on June 20. While previous reports had speculated on interest rate cuts in June, it now seems that any announcements will likely be postponed to August or September.
On Tuesday, new labor data revealed a rise in U.K. unemployment to its highest level in two and a half years, despite wage growth exceeding expectations at 6%. This news is still developing and updates will be provided shortly.
