Light at the End of the Tunnel for the UK's Shops, Following Record Plunge in Retail Sales in April

The UK Government borrowed a staggering £62.1BN in April as it raced to support an economy brought to its knees by an enforced shutdown to stop the spread of covid-19.

The scale of the UK's economic crisis was laid bare on Tuesday after 857K more people applied for unemployment benefits in April, which makes for the largest spike in claims since records began in 1971.

The Eurozone economic recovery began in May with the gradual easing of 'lockdown' restrictions, IHS Markit surveys of purchasing managers in the manufacturing and services sectors suggested on Thursday, although the speed at which economies return to normal levels of output remains uncertain. 

The shape of the UK's post-Brexit trade regime with the rest of the world became cleared on Tuesday after the Department for International Trade revealed a trade tariff schedule they believe will knock £30BN off existing tariffs once the UK leaves the EU.

A ray of sunlight peeped through the clouds hanging over the UK's battered economy when survey data showed that activity is picking up once more, leading to hopes that the worst of the lockdown-induced slump is now in the past.

The UK economy experienced a record breaking slump at the end of the first-quarter as the effort to contain the coronavirus closed down what is thought to be around a quarter of its production capacity, although the steepest falls in output are expected in the second quarter.