U.K. to learn if it has entered "triple-dip" recession

[UrbScotty]

Source: Reuters

Britain finds out on Thursday if its stagnant economy has slipped back into recession, a week after the International Monetary Fund urged finance minister George Osborne to consider scaling back his austerity program.

Economists estimate that Britain's $2.4 trillion economy eked out growth of 0.1 percent in the first three months to March, according to a Reuters poll.

That would avoid a second quarter of contraction - the definition of a recession - after it shrank by 0.3 percent in the last three months of 2012.

But with a margin this slim, the Office for National Statistics could easily report a negative number in its initial estimate of gross domestic product data at 0430 EDT, tipping the country into its third recession in under five years.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/25/us-britain-economy-idUSBRE93N1GB20130425

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Austerity, ladies and gentlemen.

[BootinUp]

1. Austerity will be dead for 50 years

good going Cameron!

[Downwinder]

2. How many dips = Depression?

[dipsydoodle]

3. UK economy avoids triple-dip recession

The UK economy has avoided falling back into recession.

The Office for National Statistics said its preliminary estimates for gross domestic product (GDP), showed the economy grew by 0.3% in the first three months of the year.

The figure means the economy avoided two consecutive quarters of contraction - the definition of a recession.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22290407

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. UK economy avoids triple-dip recession

The Office for National Statistics said its preliminary estimates for gross domestic product (GDP), showed the economy grew by 0.3% in the first three months of the year.

The figure means the economy avoided two consecutive quarters of contraction - the definition of a recession.
...
Economists say the news should give a small psychological boost to consumers and businesses, but the broader picture of the economy remains the same.
...
The ONS figures showed that GDP had risen by 0.6% when compared with the first quarter of 2012, the strongest year-on-year increase since the end of 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22290407

Stagnation. The GDP figure peaked in 2008 Q1 at an index value of 106.3. It then fell to 99.7 by 2009 Q2. Since then, it has struggled back to 103.6 now - the 'recovery' has been at 1% per year. It's basically back to the level it was at in 2007 Q1 (103.5).