The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.31 per cent or 21.74 points to 7,086.42 this afternoon.
The UK economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter of 2021, jumping 5.5 per cent compared to forecasts of 4.8 per cent, Office for National Statistics data published today shows.
With UK GDP now just 3.3 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, the largest contributors to growth between April and June were wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food service activities, education and human health, and social work activities.
The UK furlough scheme comes to an end today, despite protests from hard hit sectors pleading with the Government for another extension.
HMRC figures show furlough was still supporting the incomes of around 1.6million workers at the end of July, and junior finance minister Simon Clarke told Sky News this morning that ‘it’s impossible to put an estimate on’ how many will lose their jobs.
UK house prices rose by 0.1 per cent on the previous month in September, well below economist expectations of a 0.6 per cent jump, Nationwide data shows.
However, house prices remain 10 per cent higher than in September 2020.
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Return to work and the end of Covid restrictions helped boost the UK economy in April to June
