The UK’s economic rebound has hit strong headwinds in October with consumer confidence dropping to the lowest level since the last lockdown and a near-record share of manufacturers reporting material and labour shortages.
The British economy recovered more strongly than expected until the summer, but early data for October show the rebound could be slow sharply in the last three months of the year.
The monthly consumer confidence index published by research company GfK dropped 4 points to minus 17 per cent in October. This is down 10 points from a pandemic high in July and it is the lowest score since February, when most of the country was in its third lockdown.