Leading forecasters have suggested that the UK’s economy may not recover until 2024 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown has taken a serious toll on the economy in the UK and unemployment is predicted to rise from 3.9% to 9%.
Predictions for the economy have also worsened, earlier in 2020 forecasters expected the economy to shrink to 8% but only a month later those prediction have been adjusted to 11.5%.
Business is expected to slow and many businesses are expected to close, many for good because of the flow on effect of the pandemic. Early predictions for financial recovery saw the economy in the UK bouncing back almost a full eighteen months earlier, but that now seems unlikely.
The government is predicting a ‘V-shaped’ recovery but forecasters have warned that the key to a swifter recovery will be three main factors; consumer confidence, employment and business investment.
It seems the worst is over at least, with it seeming likely that the UK has now turned a corner and will be on its way to recovery although it’s difficult to predict the future in the face of an entirely unprecedented crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.
To aid in the recovery of the economy the government has taken a number of steps, including cutting taxes and offering wage support and incentives to workers to encourage spending a stimulate the economy. Businesses are also taken part, offering to pay bonuses to their staff to help prop up the economy and try to battle the economic downturn.
Despite government interventions to try to protect the economy and the livelihoods of UK workers, the government has admitted that not all jobs can be saved and that many people will find themselves out of work.