UK economy bounces back from Omicron as more people dine out

theguardian.com:

Britain’s economy bounced back from the Omicron coronavirus variant at a faster pace than expected during January, as consumers returned to eating and drinking out in pubs and restaurants.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said all sectors of the economy returned to growth, helping to lift gross domestic product by 0.8% in January from a month earlier, fuelled by a rise in consumer-facing services.

GDP was estimated to be 0.8% above its pre-pandemic level, reflecting a weaker impact on the economy than expected after the emergence of the Omicron variant led to a sharp rise in coronavirus infections.

City economists had forecast a slower growth rate of 0.2%.

Darren Morgan, a director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “All sectors grew in January, with some industries that were hit particularly hard in December now performing well, including wholesaling, retailing, restaurants and takeaways. Computer programming and film and television production also had a good start to the year.

“While supply chain issues persisted in certain sectors, output in both construction and manufacturing grew for the third month running.”

In a snapshot of the economy that was taken before the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed up already high energy prices to fresh record levels, the ONS said the main driver of growth in January was wholesale trade, which grew by 3.8%, amid a bounceback after weakness in December because of the impact of the Omicron variant.

Activity in IT services such as computer programming and consultancy increased strongly on the month, as well as for film, TV and sound recording and music publishing.

Reflecting the return of consumers to pubs and restaurants, activity in the food and drink sector rose by 6.8% on the