reply The UK economy has slowed to its slowest pace in four months amid a sharp rebound in the epidemic

The UK economy grew by 2.1% in August from the previous month, slower than expected and the slowest pace since May, the Office for Statistics (ONS) reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, in the UK, where the coVID-19 outbreak has rebounded sharply, the government is likely to announce tighter restrictions in the coming days, adding to concerns about the economic outlook."Monthly GDP growth in August 2020 was 2.1 per cent, but 9.2 per cent lower than in February 2020 [before the outbreak in the UK]," the ONS report said.Gross domestic product contracted by about 20 per cent in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, the worst performance since records began in 1955, as a result of the nationwide lockdown. The UK economy grew in May, the fourth month in a row to August, with a gradual "unwinding". Growth had been expected to exceed 4 percent in August.More than 50% of economic growth in August came from the food and accommodation sector. That month, more Britons chose to holiday at home; The British government has introduced a food and non-alcoholic drink credit scheme that will allow in-room diners to deduct 50 per cent of their food and non-alcoholic drinks from Monday to Wednesday, up to a maximum of 10 pounds per person.Since the summer holidays, however, the epidemic has rebounded quickly in the UK. Britain reported 17,540 new confirmed cases Thursday, nearly double the number a week ago, and 609 more people were hospitalized. The rebound has been most severe in England.The government is expected to introduce tighter restrictions in the coming days, particularly in the northern English cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.Scotland tightened its quarantine on Thursday, with Glasgow and Edinburgh requiring pubs to close for 16 days.Business, politics and trade unions have called on the government to come up with countermeasures to help companies weather the shutdown.A Treasury spokesman said: "The chancellor will later announce the next phase of the Work Support Programme, which will provide a safety net for businesses that are likely to close in the coming weeks or months.""Today's figures show that the economy has grown for the fourth month in a row," UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rish Sunak said in a statement. But I know a lot of people are worried about the coming winter." Since the outbreak, he said, his focus has been on jobs, "keeping as many jobs as possible and supporting people to find other opportunities, and that goal has not changed."In order to stabilize employment, the British government implemented a "job retention plan" at the beginning of the outbreak, which paid 80 percent of the salaries of millions of employees, up to 2500 pounds per month. The programme, originally scheduled to last until the end of July, has been extended until the end of October.The opposition Labor Party accused the government of getting out of control and hurting businesses. Labour leader Keir Starmer, writing in The Daily Telegraph, said: "Businesses that help our country and economy face a weekend of uncertainty over whether they will be able to stay open."