As supply shortages disrupted car production, offset the strong rebound in the hotel industry and the launch of the vaccination program, the UK’s recovery slowed in May.

The Office of National Statistics said that the volume of goods and services produced in the UK increased by 0.8% month-on-month, which was lower than economists expected after a strong rebound after the economy began to reopen in April.

This resulted in an economic growth rate of 3.6% in the three months ending in May and reduced economic output by 3.1% from pre-pandemic levels, which is the smallest gap since the beginning of the crisis.

The expansion was driven by the reopening of indoor hotels. The service industry increased by 0.9%, of which accommodation and catering services increased by 37.1%, as restaurants and bars allowed customers to return indoors after restrictions were relaxed.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “It is great to see people withdraw due to the successful launch of the vaccine, and to see that today’s economic growth data reflects this, and added that the government will continue to support the economic recovery. . Vacation plan and support for job seekers.

The National Bureau of Statistics of the United Kingdom said that the recovery of the production sector was mainly due to bad weather rather than increased output in the energy sector.However, its performance was dragged down by a 16.5% drop in transportation equipment manufacturing-due to the global Shortage of microchips This disrupted car production. The construction industry has also contracted slightly, but still above pre-pandemic levels.

KPMG economist Yael Selfin said that as the recovery matures, the slowdown in growth is to be expected. She added: “We still expect that the economy will continue to heat up in the next few months and pent-up demand will drive the development of many industries. However, as many people desire the speed of reopening, bottlenecks have begun to appear in various sectors-from labor shortages. To supply chain pressure.”