Will England pay an economic price for reopening early?

Regional PMI data shows the English regions outpacing the devolved administrations. They reopened sooner but Covid-19 cases are now rising again

The UK economy is recovering from lockdown but some regions have rebounded better than others

The UK economy continued to recover in July, expanding by 6.6 per cent, according to the official figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

But NatWest’s regionalised PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) data suggests the recovery is an uneven one.

There is a striking difference between the rebound in business activity it has recorded in the English regions with what’s been going on in the devolved nations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.