UK economy outperforms in May but severe recession still on the way

Neil Wilson at Markets.com said: "Given the easing of lockdown restrictions, huge government and central bank support if it hadn’t bounced back aggressively it would be a signal of total disaster. You have to remember that PMIs only tell you whether those surveyed think things are better or worse or the same as the previous month."

But despite the slight uptick IHS Markit, which publishes the data, said the pace of decline remained far worse than at any point during the global financial crisis.

Companies reported a severe lack of new business and many firms said they were worried it would take a long time to recover.

Some service sector companies in particular remained deeply pessimistic about their near-term prospects as restaurants and bars are likely to remain closed for sometime to come.

Chris Williamson, economist at IHS Markit, said: "The UK economy remains firmly locked in an unprecedented downturn, with business activity and employment continuing to slump at alarming rates in May. Although the pace of decline has eased since April’s record collapse, May saw the second largest monthly falls in output and jobs seen over the survey’s 22-year history, the rates of decline continuing to far exceed anything seen previously.

"Travel and tourism firms, hotels, restaurants and producers of consumer goods such as clothing were again the hardest hit, reflecting virus containment measures, but this remains a shockingly broad-based downturn with very few companies left unscathed by the COVID-19 pandemic."