New Delhi: The United Kingdom’s economy shrank again in October 2024 for a second consecutive month, a first since 2020, the media reported.
It shrank for a second month in a row in the run-up to the new Labor government’s first back-to-back falls in output since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.1 percent month–on–month in October, as it did in September also, the Office for National Statistics said.
This was the first consecutive drop in four years since 2020 when the UK enforced its first coronavirus lockdown.
As the UK was on the verge of economic recession recently, its economy shrinking again for a second consecutive month is a major setback after the formation of the new government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who succeeded Conservative leader Rishi Sunak in July 2024 after parliamentary elections.
The services sector flat-lined, while output in the manufacturing and construction industries declined in October.
After the US election, the value of the dollar surged but that of the sterling fell around a quarter of a cent against the dollar.