UK economy stumbles in August, setting back recovery from COVID-19 slump

Gross domestic product rose by 2.1% from July, official data showed, not even half the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

Britain's economy struggled to grow in August, setting back its recovery from the coronavirus lockdown, and finance minister Rishi Sunak was due to announce more help to slow a rise in jobs losses as a second wave of COVID-19 infections hits.

Gross domestic product rose by 2.1% from July, official data showed, not even half the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and the slowest increase since the economy began to recover in May from a record slump.