UK creeps into new recession

The UK economy has entered recession three years since it pulled out of the previous financial downturn, new data has revealed.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the economy contracted by 0.2 per cent during the quarter. Three months prior it shrank another 0.3 per cent, fulfilling the definition of recession as two consecutive quarterly reductions to the nation’s economy.

However, the ONS figures must undergo at least two scheduled re-examinations, which could theoretically pull the figure out of the minus.

The UK last entered recession in 2008 and battled the downturn for six quarters, before exiting in 2009.

The nation’s economy has zigzagged over the past eighteen months. In the ONS’ quarterly reports from Q4 2010, gross domestic product fell 0.5 per cent, then climbed up 0.2 per cent, dipped 0.1 per cent, climbed 0.6 per cent, then fell again by 0.3 per cent.

But the new ONS data marks the end of the staccato flow of the nation’s economic activity, showing two falls in a row.

In February, credit agency Moody’s cut its outlook for the UK along with several other Europe nations.

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