This is why the UK's services sector has reached pre-pandemic levels despite GDP slowdown

While the rate of economic growth slowed down in October, the services sector, which includes everything from restaurants to accountants, managed to reach its February 2020 levels again for the first time.

The recovery is, however, running at two speeds. Consumer-facing services, such as restaurants, are still 5.2% below their pre-pandemic levels, while all other services are 1.4% ahead.

The news came as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that gross domestic product (GDP), a key measure of the economy, rose by 0.1% in October.

It is a marked slowdown since September when the economy grew by 0.6%, according to ONS figures.

Production output decreased by 0.6% in October 2021, with electricity and gas down by 2.9%, and mining and quarrying down by 5.0%.

A 0.6% drop in production output, due in part to the energy and mining sectors, and a 1.8% fall in construction, contributed to the slowdown.

GDP remains 0.5% below its February 2020 levels.

“While GDP growth slowed in October the UK health sector again grew strongly while second-hand car sales and employment agencies also boosted the economy,” said ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner.

“Taken as a whole, the dominant services sector reached its pre-pandemic level for the first time in 20 months.

“These gains were offset by a drop in restaurants, which fell back after a strong summer, and reduced oil extraction and gas use.

“Construction also saw its biggest drop since April last year, with notable falls in housebuilding and infrastructure work, partly driven by shortages in raw materials.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “We’ve always acknowledged there could be bumps on our road to recovery, but the early actions we have taken, our ongoing £400 billion economic support package and our vaccine programme mean we are well placed to keep our economy on track.

“We have still been recovering quicker than expected, with more employees on payrolls than ever before and redundancies remaining low.”

Alpesh Paleja, lead economist at the Confederation of British Industry, said: “Growth disappointed in October, reinforcing concerns about the resilience of the UK’s economic recovery to the Omicron variant and the impact of further restrictions.

“We need to create consistency in our approach and build confidence by reducing the oscillation between normal life and restrictions as we learn to live with the virus and its variants."

“Meanwhile, supply pressures remain acute and further rises in inflation are looming. We expect growth to build further momentum ahead, but more action is needed to address longer-term challenges, including ‘scarring’ from Covid and poor productivity.”