Britain has entered double-dip recession, ONS figures show
Britain slips back into recession
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Wednesday, 25, Apr 2012 10:49
By Verity Wood
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown that the UK has entered a double-dip recession, its first since the 1970s.
A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and the economy contracted by 0.3 per cent in the final part of 2011 and 0.2 per cent during the first three months of 2012.
This is despite predictions from the City suggesting growth of 0.1 per cent and ONS figures earlier this month showing a 1.8 per cent increase in retail sales between February and March that was expected to boost GDP.
Although today's (April 25th) news is a preliminary estimate, expectations are that later revisions will still demonstrate a double-dip recession, with the UK last entering an economic downturn in 2008.
The ONS said construction output suffered particularly badly during the last quarter, decreasing by three per cent.
It is likely that the government will face calls to reduce its austerity measures as a result of the new figures.