The hit to the economy from strikes is lower than originally feared, experts have said.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said that the impact of industrial action on GDP between June last year and the end of April is estimated to be £1.4 billion, or £127 million per month.

The forecaster had previously estimated the strikes were costing the economy £188 million per month between June and mid-February.

This is because fewer workers have taken part in walkouts than expected, especially in the NHS, bus and train strikes, and managers in strike-hit services have also learnt to limit their impact, it said.

The new lower figure, which represents 0.06 per cent of annual GDP, is likely to buoy ministers as they attempt to ride out a fresh wave of action.

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