UK held back by staff shortages, Brexit and mortgage costs, says top economist

Commuters cross London Bridge. Paul Johnson said the UK labour force had half a million fewer people than before the pandemic. Photograph: Jeff Gilbert/Alamy stockphoto/Alamy Live News.

A shortage of workers, expensive mortgages and the continuing effects of Brexit are all weighing on the economy as the UK shapes up to be the weakest major G7 economy this year, the head of a leading thinktank has said.

Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said there were special factors holding back growth in the UK as politicians and analysts responded to a warning from the International Monetary Fund that the UK economy would shrink by 0.3% in 2023.