The economy is likely to have moved out of recession already, with official figures revealing that gross domestic product expanded by 0.2% in January.
The Office for National Statistics said the economy had returned to growth at the beginning of this year thanks to a revival in activity in the services and construction sectors. The 0.2% growth rate was in line with City analysts’ expectations.
An expansion in GDP raises the chances that the economy has powered away from recession, making it one of the shortest downturns in the past century.
Output contracted by 0.1% and 0.3% in the third and final quarters of last year, respectively, meaning that the country met the technical recession definition of two consecutive quarters of negative growth. GDP dropped by 0.1% in December.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told The Times: “While the last few years have been tough, today’s numbers show we are making progress in growing the economy.”
City analysts agreed with the chancellor. Sanjay Raja, senior economist at Deutsche Bank, an investment bank, said: “The economy is starting to turn a corner. The technical recession that the UK slipped into late last year will be short-lived and we should see growth gradually return to its trend rate over the course of the year.”
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was down two-points, at 7,769 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures was up 0.50% today, trading at $84.45 a barrel.
Companies reporting today
Bridgepoint | Full Year Results |
Empiric Student Property | Full Year Results |
Helios Towers | Full Year Results |
IG Group | Q3 Trading Statement |
Moonpig | Q4 Trading Statement |
OSB Group | Full Year Results |
Savills | Full Year Results |
Trainline | Q4 Trading Statement |
Vistry | Full Year Results |