UK GDP growth: why experts say it could have been much better

GDP recovery could have been stronger with better planned job support and consistent messaging, say unions and firms

The bounceback in the UK economy in the third quarter was record breaking, but the response from business groups, trade unions and many economists was that it might have been so much stronger.

If only the government had signalled in July it would keep the furlough scheme in place until next March, as it was subsequently forced to do.

Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the total value of activity in the economy over a given period of time.