The economy may be showing signs of life but the real pain is yet to come

Indications of a bounce are weak and large-scale job cuts, along with continued fears about coronavirus will cause serious problems over the coming months, writes Ben Chapman

Beneath the headline figures on some economic indicators lies a bleak reality (REUTERS)

After taking an enormous hit from coronavirus and the lockdown, UK economic activity is thankfully showing tentative signs of a rebound.

New car sales rose 11 per cent in July compared to last year while a survey of services industry managers jumped back into positive territory. The amount of energy we use and the number of journeys we are making suggest we are heading somewhere back towards normality. Perhaps most encouragingly, payments data shows consumer spending was only about 10 per cent down in July on its level of last year.

Signs like these have prompted the Bank of England to revise up its estimate for the UK economy, from a gargantuan 14 per cent fall in GDP this year, to a merely huge 9.5 per cent.