TIMESONLINE: Britain's economy is teetering on the brink of recession as official figures showed that output ground to a halt between April and the end of June. This is the weakest performance since 1992, the tail-end of the last recession and will increase pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates to prevent a full blown economic slump.
Official figures released this morning showed that output did not grow at all in the second quarter, contrary to initial estimates showing that the economy grew by 0.2 per cent between April and the end of June.
On the year, GDP was 1.4 per cent higher, revised down from an initial reading of 1.6 per cent and the weakest since the final quarter of 1992.
The downward revision came after grim news from the manufacturing and services sectors with surveys suggesting acitivity has contracted for at least three months in a row.
The stagnation of the economy raises the prospect of recession as businesses struggle in increasingly difficult conditions. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of falling output. Britain’s Economy Grinds to a Halt >>> By Grainne Gilmore | August 22, 2008
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