A man wearing a protective face mask takes a selfie on London Bridge on March 21, 2020, on the day that UK regions traditionally desperate for tourists, pleaded for people not to visit the coast or the countryside for fear of spreading the coronavirus. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFPainBritain’s private sector economic activity shrank in June but the pace of decline slowed significantly from May as the country eased its coronavirus lockdown, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday.
“June saw a record rise in the PMI for a second successive month, confirming that the economy is moving closer to stabilising after the worst of the immediate economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic was felt back in April,” IHS Markit chief business economist Chris Williamson said. “Some of the recent gains in the PMI reflect short-term bounces as businesses returned to work, but demand clearly remains weak, as indicated by a further steep decline in backlogs of orders and an ongoing fall in new orders,” Williamson said.
The data comes after the Bank of England last week forecast that the UK economy would fare better than expected as lockdown restrictions are fully eased.