Restaurants in England filled this week and online job postings returned to pre-pandemic levels as the British economy began to reopen following the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a series of economic indicators released by the National Statistics Office (ONS) and the Bank of England, British banks are preparing to increase mortgage lending to households at the fastest pace since the 2008 financial crisis.
Unnecessary stores reopened in England on Monday for the first time since January, while restaurants and pubs were allowed to serve customers outdoors.
As much of Europe struggles with a new wave of Covid-19 cases, Britain – which has recorded the highest pandemic death toll on the European continent – is reopening economic activity as well as lockdown measures imposed and rapid pace of the vaccination campaign has led to a reduction in cases.
Restaurant bookings on April 12 jumped to 79% of the level that was the same day in 2019, a year before the pandemic, according to ONS, citing data from the booking company OpenTable, as broadcast by Reuters and relayed by the Athens Agency News.
Online job postings rebounded to pre-pandemic levels on April 8 as retail and hosting companies sought to hire new staff, according to data from the ONS recruitment company Adzuna.
“We are not back to normal yet, but these are really promising signs,” said Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna.
The Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund expect the British economy to grow rapidly this year as it recovers from a record 10% dip in 2020. However, it may still be needed by 2022 before the economy returns to pre-pandemic levels – a slower recovery than the US or Japan.
Some 5.7 million people – 17% of the total workforce – remained on leave at the end of March, according to the ONS, while economists believe it is unlikely that all of these people will have jobs when the state support program ends at the end. September.
Today’s data also showed a decline in a consumer spending index, which is closely monitored by the market and based on data from the Bank of England for credit and debit card payments.
The so-called CHAPS cost index fell to 83% of its pre-crisis levels for the week to April 8, from 88% a week earlier, possibly due to the Easter holidays, according to the ONS.
