UK economy shrinks for second month

BRITAIN'S ECONOMY SHRANK for a second month in a row in October in the run-up to the government's first budget, the first back-to-back falls in output since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a setback for new finance minister Rachel Reeves.

- ANDY BRUCE & SUBAN ABDULLA

Gross domestic product contracted by 0.1% month-on-month in October, as it did in September, the Office for National Statistics said.