UK Officially in Recession
Written by admin on January 23rd, 2009 in Trading.
With such a long break we thought it apt to return with big news. It is no surprise to anyone how bleak times are looking in the financial world right now, but today is the day that we officially recognise Britain as a country in recession.
The report released this morning has confirmed what many have believed for the last 6 months. Official Government figures have confirmed the UK is now in recession for the first time since 1991.
GDP fell by 1.5% in the last three months of 2008 after a 6% drop in Q3. This falls in line with the widely accepted definition for recession, tow consecutive quarters of falling economic growth.
Not only is the UK officially in recession but the figure released represent the biggest quarter on quarter decline since 1980, and 1.8% fall on Q4 in 2007.
On the back of the released report the pound continued to fall against the Dollar, now at a 24 year low at $1.36 Dollars to the pound.
Within the report it was highlighted that the UK’s manufacturing sector showed the biggest retraction, counteracting by 4.6% after falling 1.6% in Q3.
Unemployment is also up with nearly 2 million people currently out of work. On top of this the housing market remains severely depressed with retail figure also bleak.
“It is difficult to see why things should improve in the foreseeable future,” - Andrew Smith, chief economist at KPMG.
Bleak news indeed for the British economy, but at Financial Market we are here to help keep you up top date with the latest financial news.
