The UK economy has profited a great deal from the heatwave and World Cup in July this year.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the UK economy grew by round 0.6% between May and July, 0.3% of which was achieved in the month of July alone.
Rob Kent-Smith from the ONS stated:
“Services grew particularly strongly, with retail sales performing well, boosted by warm weather and the World Cup.”
“The dominant service sector again led economic growth in the month of July with engineers, accountants and lawyers all enjoying a busy period, backed up by growth in construction, which hit another record high level”, said Kent-Smith in reference to the construction sector’s expansion.
Also, the Bank of England found that interest rates are expected to stay the same. The interest rates increased for the second time in a decade this August to 0.75%.
The service sector grew a great deal which rebounded the lack of economic growth from the previous few months.
Chief economist at PwC, John Hawksworth, stated:
“Looking ahead… the long hot summer could give way to a stormy autumn as Brexit-related uncertainty leads businesses to defer major investment decisions and subdued real wage growth weighs on consumer spending.”
Another chief economist, Yael Selfin from KPMG in the UK, stated:
“Uncertainties and risks around Brexit are likely to make the Bank of England particularly cautious during the critical months ahead. We expected a pause before interest rates are raised by 0.25% in November 2019 to 1%.”
