Early official estimates indicate that strikes and the summer washout may have contributed to the UK economy’s 0.5% contraction in July.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the decrease, which was worse than many economists had anticipated, came after a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.5% over the previous month that was not altered.

Regarding the yo-yo performance, Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, stated: “Our initial estimate for July reveals that GDP decreased; nevertheless, the broader picture seems more encouraging, with the economy rising across the services, production, and construction sectors in the last three months.

Due to teacher and healthcare worker strikes, services suffered in July, and the unfavourable weather made it harder to conduct business in the construction and retail sectors.

After recovering from the effects of May’s extra bank holiday, manufacturing also decreased.

They also reflect the results of the Bank of England’s efforts to slow the rate of price increases.In deciding how much steam to drain from the economy through its programme of 14 consecutive interest rate increases to date, it must strike a careful balance.