The UK economy saw no growth in April, according to early official figures from the Office for National Statistics.
This comes after a 0.4 per cent increase in March.
A Reuters poll of economists had anticipated this stagnation, attributing it to wet weather negatively impacting retail sales and construction output.
The ONS report, the last GDP update before the election, revealed that April’s rainfall was 155 per cent above the long-term average.
A breakdown of April’s output data showed services grew 0.2 percent, while production slid 0.9 percent and construction shed 1.4 percent.
Britain had emerged from a short-lived recession with growth in the first quarter of this year.
The UK economy contracted slightly for two quarters in a row in the second half of 2023, meeting the technical definition of a recession that was caused by elevated inflation that has prolonged a cost-of-living crisis.
Britain votes on July 4 in an election widely expected to be won by the main opposition Labour party, a victory that would end 14 years of rule by the Conservatives, currently led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“The stagnation in GDP in April doesn’t mean the economic recovery has been extinguished, but it’s hardly great news for the prime minister three weeks ahead of the election,” noted Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics research group.
