The hospitality and travel industries are expected to be hardest hit by growing industrial action that will further dampen economic activity. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimates that the rail strikes will cause a near £500m hit to GDP by the end of January.
Doug McWilliams, founder of the CEBR, said: “The rail strikes have an impact on GDP in a whole host of areas, of which the one where it bites most is hospitality.”
Mr Dales added that, while the strikes “are tiny compared to the 1970s and early 1980s”, they are becoming more widespread and having a knock on effect to economic activity elsewhere.