The CBI issued its verdict after the Office for National Statistics charted a rise in output of just 0.1% over the month following a 1% increase during June.
That was despite more businesses getting into gear, with furlough levels falling, following over a year ofJuly was the month that the so-called 'pingdemic' hit its peak, with the ranks of people ordered by the NHS test and trace app to stay home, after a close contact notification, rising by more than 600,000 people a week in England alone at one stage.
It forced the government to introduce quarantine exemptions at the end of the month to protect some key activities.The ONS noted a hit from wider labour and supply shortages - constraints which have deteriorated since July with vacancies running at record levels and scores of consumer-facing businesses revealing supply problems.