UK economy shrinks for second consecutive month in October

Britain's economy shrank for a second month in October in the run-up to the new government's first Budget, the first back-to-back falls in output since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.1 per cent month on month in October, as it did in September, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

It was the first consecutive drop in monthly GDP, which is volatile and prone to revision, since March and April 2020, when Britain enforced its first coronavirus lockdown.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a monthly expansion of 0.1 per cent. The services sector flatlined, while output in the manufacturing and construction industries declined in October.

Dec 13's data adds to a run of worse-than-expected figures for Britain's economy, with business surveys and retail sales readings also falling flat.