British economy exits recession

http://www.timesofearth.com/Business/?NT=4&nid=16630 LONDON -- Britain emerged from a recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 after six quarters of declines with growth that fell short of expectations, the government said.

In the first of three estimates of the country's gross domestic product, the Office for National Statistics said the British economy grew 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, which fell below the forecast of 0.4 percent growth.

If not revised lower, technically the longest recession in Britain since the Great Depression has ended.

For the year, the gross domestic product dropped 4.8 percent, the sharpest fall in 88 years, The Times of London Online reported.

But the fourth quarter figure is still tentative. Chief Economist at the ONS Joe Grice said revisions from the first estimate of the GDP typically add or subtract 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points, meaning the fourth quarter GDP could have actually fallen 0.1 percent.

"This reinforces our suspicion that recovery will be gradual and prone to losses of momentum," said Howard Archer, the chief economist at IHS Global Insight.

"This is another desperately disappointing GDP release. While the UK officially exited recession in the fourth quarter of 2009, it could only crawl out," he said.

Britain has at last emerged from recession. This is how the economy now compares with the world's other major powers.




Britain
Limped out of recession. The country has been hit particularly hard by the collapse of the banking system, because its economy was overly reliant on a mix of financial services and the housing market. It entered into a recession in the second quarter of 2008 and only emerged with 0.1pc growth in the final three months of 2009.

France
Out of recession. Entered at the same time as Britain and was expected to be hit hard by its lack of flexible workforce. In fact, it has survived surprisingly well, with its manufacturing base helping it come out of recession in the second quarter of last year. The Government expects the economy to notch growth of 0.4pc this quarter and 0.3pc next.

Germany

Out of recession. It too was expected to be poleaxed by the global recession, because its economy had been struggling for a while and it is one of the world's biggest exporters. But it emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2009, though its statistics offices has warned that the recovery probably stagnated in the final three months of the year.

Japan

Out of recession. Like Germany, it was forecast to be hamstrung by its reliance on exports and electronics and car manufacturing. Intriguingly, these factors have played in its favour and the country after a deep slump at the end of last year and the start of this year, has recovered. The Government is forecasting expansion of 1.4pc in the next financial year.

Spain

Still in recession. If you thought Britain had it tough, spare a thought for Spain, which has found itself in a dire state thanks to a spectacular bursting of its property bubble. At 19.4pc, Spain has the highest unemployment in the eurozone and house prices are still falling. Though it entered its recession later than most countries, in the third quarter of last year, it is expected to fare badly well into next year.

USA

Out of recession, though not yet officially confirmed. After four quarters of contraction, the world's largest economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.2pc in the third quarter of 2009. But with unemployment running above 10pc, the outlook for the recovery remains uncertain.

China

Never in recession and last quarter racked up its fastest growth since 2007. The economy enjoyed growth of 10.7pc in the final three months of 2009 compared with a year earlier. For the whlole of last year, gross domestic product grew by 8.7pc, beating the target set down by Premier Wen Jiabao.

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• British
• economy
• officially
• out
• of
• recession

[mohan4114]

The road for British economy recovery are cancel all welfare payment, break the union back and reduce tax. A bitter pill to swallow for Britain to be Great again.

[loveyourlabourparty]

rubbish

[recessionlover]

he missed out the uk's biggest industry - massaging statistics

[CelticReject]

After all the stimulus. All the lay offs, all the closures, all the quantative easing, all the Christmas shopping and the increase in VAT to 17.5% all we could manage is 0.1% Wait until the next 1/4 numbers come out! Were buggered!

[miguelsotoseudonimo]

Bottom line: UK will still be in a downturn if this preliminary estimate is revised down.