UK GDP: growth stalls as rising Covid cases and shortages hit recovery – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK economic recovery stalls

• Full story: UK economic recovery stalled in July amid worker shortages
• BREAKING: UK GDP rose just 0.1% in July
• UK exports to EU countries fell
• Service sector and manufacturing stalled
• Capital Economics: rising virus cases and shortages stall recovery
• ONS: staff shortages a factor
• Construction output fell as firms struggle to source raw materials
• Introduction: UK's July GDP report

More encouragingly, Kitty Ussher, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, expects the economy to continue its upward trend" this autumn:

The final lifting of restrictions on July 19th led to an expansion in the entertainment sector, but this was offset by a correction in the legal, real estate and professional services sector where the partial ending of the stamp duty discount at the end of June had caused many people to scramble to complete sales on time.

It also looks as if England's thrilling run in the UEFA European Cup had boosted growth in June, leading to a bit of fall-back in July.

Growth of just 0.1% in July marks a significant slowdown and it's a concern that most areas of the economy were flat across the month - only production showed a positive reading while services and manufacturing were flat, and construction fell. It now looks like the wait for the UK to regain the ground lost since the start of the pandemic will last well into next year.

What's concerning is that these numbers may not yet be showing the full effect of sustained supply-chain bottlenecks. The problem spans multiple sectors, with concerns growing over shortages in manufacturing and construction materials, as prices of concrete, aluminium, steel, timber, and fuel continue to rise. Speaking to MPs on the commons Treasury committee this week, Andrew Bailey confirmed supply-chain issues and a shortage of workers could see a levelling off of the recovery'.