Economic week ahead

The full extent of the economy’s rebound – or otherwise – will be laid bare on Friday.

Economists expect GDP will have risen by 0.4pc in the second quarter, representing a significant improvement on the 0.2pc recorded in the first three months of the year.

Returning to this higher rate of growth is crucial – the Bank of England raised interest rates to 0.75pc last week on the basis that the poor showing at the start of the year was something of a blip.

Part of the reason was the extremely cold weather in February and March, when the later spring months and the start of summer were much sunnier.

Other signs are reasonably positive. Unemployment kept falling. Prices increased by less than wages, in a turnaround from the year to the first quarter.

It could also give the UK a confidence boost. After falling to become the slowest-growing member of the G7 in 2017, a 0.4pc reading would put Britain back above France for 2018 so far.