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LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Britain's economy shrank by a
record 20.4% between April and June, when the coronavirus
lockdown was tightest, the largest contraction reported by any
major economy so far, official figures showed on Wednesday.
The data also showed the world's sixth-biggest economy
entered a recession as it shrank for a second quarter in a row.
There were signs of a recovery in the month of June alone
when gross domestic product grew by 8.7% from May, the Office
for National Statistics said.
That was just above economists' average expectation in a
Reuters poll for an 8% rise.
"The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has
led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record," Jonathan
Athow of the Office for National Statistics said.
"The economy began to bounce back in June... Despite this,
GDP in June still remains a sixth below its level in February,
before the virus struck."
(Reporting by David Milliken and William Schomberg; editing by
Kate Holton and Paul Sandle)