UK economy crawls out of recession

Britain crept out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 but only just and with a far weaker growth rate than expected, data showed on Tuesday.

Britain crept out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 but only just and with a far weaker growth rate than expected, data showed on Tuesday. The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product rose by 0.1 per cent between October and December, well below analysts' forecasts for growth of 0.4 per cent after an 18-month recession which wiped out 6.0 per cent of output.

HT Image

“The Q4 GDP figures are a major blow to hopes that the UK economy had emerged decisively from recession,” said Jonathan Loynes, an economist at Capital Economics.