UK card spending recovers to 100% of pre-pandemic level

Spending on payment cards in Britain last week rose to 100% of its pre-pandemic level of February 2020, up from 95% a week earlier, data showed on Thursday.

Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics showed output-per-hour worked, a measure of productivity in the economy, inched up by 0.1% in the second quarter, leaving it 1.7% above its average level in 2019.

Economists say productivity data are likely to be distorted by the effects of the pandemic.