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British Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that his government is "grappling with something that is unprecedented" after figures showed the UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record. As reported by BBC.com (12/8), the economy shrank 20.4% between April and June compared with the first three months of the year. The two consecutive quarters of decline caused by the Covid-19 lockdown pushed the UK officially into recession. He told the BBC that it was "a very difficult and uncertain time". Responding to fears that the economic turmoil could trigger mass unemployment, the chancellor said the government should not pretend that "absolutely everybody can and will be able to go back to the job they had". 

Britain has suffered the deepest recession among the world’s top economies this year, shrinking by a fifth in the second quarter alone when much of the economy was delayed as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. As reported by APNews.com (12/8), the Office for National Statistics said that Britain is in recession and the 20.4% quarterly drop is the worst since records began in 1955. While many of the lockdown restrictions have since been eased, the country faces a tough time in coming months, with unemployment likely to spike as the government phases out a support program that has effectively kept nearly 10 million workers on company payrolls. Britain’s recession is deeper than those recorded by comparable economies in Europe   notably Germany, France and Italy//APNews/BBC