UK economy returns to slender growth as spending in pubs lifts output

GDP grew by 0.1% over the three months to April, lifting Britain’s economy marginally above pre-pandemic levels. Photograph: Kumar Sriskandan/Alamy

The UK economy eked out a return to growth in April as rising car sales and customers spending in pubs and bars helped output to recover from a wave of public sector strikes in the previous month.

The Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday that gross domestic product rose by a slender 0.2% month on month, matching the forecasts of City economists for a recovery from March when output declined by 0.3%.