ONS confirms economy growing

Despite the potential for setbacks with the onset of variants, news about the economy’s recovery continues to remain positive and that is reflected in what we are seeing with many of our clients in the Thames Valley.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published their latest figures on the economy showing that:

• Monthly gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.1% in March 2021, but remained 5.9% below its level in February 2020, which was the most recent month not affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
• The rise in GDP was led by a month-on-month rise of 1.9% in services in March 2021, but this sector remained 7.2% below its February 2020 level; the monthly rise in services was led by the education sector (contributing 0.54 percentage points of the growth).
• Monthly production grew by 1.8% between February 2021 and March 2021 but remained 1.8% below its February 2020 level; the monthly rise in production was led by manufacturing (contributing 1.51 percentage points of the growth).
• Monthly manufacturing grew by 2.1% between February 2021 and March 2021 but remained 2.2% below its February 2020 level; the monthly rise was led by manufacturing of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified.
• Monthly construction grew by 5.8% between February 2021 and March 2021, meaning it was 2.4% above its February 2020 level.

We expect these positive figures to continue as we go through the summer, lock down restrictions are eased and if you need any help in planning for growth with your business and the incentives and finance available please call us.