Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, including the UK GDP report for May
Public sector strikes also weighed on the economy in May, as workers pushed for pay rises to protect them from inflation.
Michael Hewson of CMC Markets explains:
The monthly GDP numbers for May are forecast to show a -0.3% contraction due to the multiple bank holidays during the month, as well as widespread public sector strike action, with index of services seeing a sharp slowdown from 0.3% in April to -0.2%.
The weak performance in May is likely to act as a sizeable drag on Q2 GDP, although we should see some of that recovered in June.
Why the fall? In short, the extra Bank Holiday as a result of the King’s Coronation.
A hard landing may be unavoidable.
