• From The BBC:

    The UK economy contracted 0.8% between April and June, more than double the figure economists had expected.While an improvement on the previous quarter, the figures may indicate that the recovery could take longer than previously had been thought. The contraction was much less than the 2.4% seen in the first quarter but was still above analysts’ 0.3% prediction. The latest figures take the annual rate of decline to 5.6%, the biggest fall since records began in 1955. Liam Byrne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that he was cautious but confident that growth was going to return at the end of the year. “We are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, but what today’s figures show is that the pace of the downturn is easing,” he said. The BBC’s economic editor Stephanie Flanders was less upbeat. “Anyone who was worried about the momentum of the recovery before will be that much more concerned now,” she observed. “Not least, because the recovery has yet to actually show i…

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    Posted by Jon @ 6:33 am

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