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United Kingdom

UK Economy Emerges From Recession 29

The U.K. economy has emerged from recession as gross domestic product rose 0.6% in the first quarter, official figures showed Friday, beating expectations. From a report: Economists polled by Reuters had forecast growth of 0.4% on the previous three months of the year. The U.K. entered a shallow recession in the second half of 2023, as persistent inflation continued to hurt the economy.

Although there is no official definition of a recession, two straight quarters of negative growth is widely considered a technical recession. The U.K.'s production sector expanded by 0.8% in the period from January to March, while construction fell by 0.9%. On a monthly basis, the economy grew by 0.4% in March, following 0.2% expansion in February. In output terms, the services sector -- crucial to the U.K. economy -- grew for the first time since the first quarter in 2023, the Office for National Statistics said. The 0.7% growth was mainly driven by the transport services industry which saw its highest quarterly growth rate since 2020.

UK Economy Emerges From Recession

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  • Selling it. Hard. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Friday May 10, 2024 @12:38PM (#64462685)

    Although there is no official definition of a recession

    Ah yes, the usual legal disclaimer. Since there’s no official definition, then perhaps we’re all free to use our feelings here, yes?

    I feel that 0.6% is little more than a damn rounding error, and the UK is trying to sell their “win” here. Hard.

    I also feel that not having an official definition of a recession, has been bought and paid for by the kind of corrupt greed that creates recessions.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The widely used definition, the one used here, is 2 consecutive quarters with zero or negative growth.

      The 0.6% figure is pretty accurate. The issue is that we are screwed for at least the rest of the decade. There will be an election this year, and both parties are promising more pain and under-investment, as well as staying out of the lucrative EU Single Market. No matter who wins, it's very unlikely that things will improve much until the 2030s.

      This is our second lost decade, after the first one starting

      • by zlives ( 2009072 )

        thank you sir, may i have another?

      • I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but "staying out of the lucrative EU single market" is not up to any UK parties, either now or in the future. The power balance in the EU has shifted and nobody wants the UK back to mess things up.
        • Not to mention if the idiots in the UK want to rejoin, they will have to accept the euro. Or will be supremely satisfying to see them taken down a few pegs! It's a long shot, but perhaps voters might stop voting for right wing demagogues? I have little hope for that, but if you shoot yourself in the foot (willingly), you deserve all the shit that comes your way.
          • by gilgongo ( 57446 )

            Although perhaps just like the definition of "leave" was never discussed properly ("Absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market.'" - arch Brexiteer Daniel Hannan, May 2015), so the definition of "re-join" is never defined to much satisfaction. Switzerland is not an EU or EEA member but is part of the single market. It does not have the Euro. There are also other possibilities in getting closer to Europe which I don't doubt Labour will look at. Also, polling suggests about 6

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I'm sure we could get back into the EEA. That would be ideal. No real say but we get most of the benefits.

    • I also feel that not having an official definition of a recession, has been bought and paid for by the kind of corrupt greed that creates recessions.

      Not everything needs to be "official". The term recession has an almost universal acceptance criteria among economists. That is more than enough. Every economics text book gives you the same definition and virtually every country uses that same definition even if it isn't "official".

      I feel that 0.6% is little more than a damn rounding error, and the UK is trying to sell their “win” here. Hard.

      No one cares what your feelings are or how little you understand about how massive amount of money you need to move in order to move something like your entire economy by a single decimal point. There is no rounding error here.

    • They should be celebrating this rare post-Brexshit win. Maybe those hardy Brits can afford to really push the boat out & put the heating on for 0.6% longer?
    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Although there is no official definition of a recession

      Ah yes, the usual legal disclaimer. Since there’s no official definition, then perhaps we’re all free to use our feelings here, yes?

      I feel that 0.6% is little more than a damn rounding error, and the UK is trying to sell their “win” here. Hard.

      I also feel that not having an official definition of a recession, has been bought and paid for by the kind of corrupt greed that creates recessions.

      The thing is, there is a technical definition of a recession, that is two successive quarters of economic contraction (negative growth). The UK had that, then it had one quarter of economic growth, ergo we went into recession and then out of it.

      This does mean little to the man on the street, the Tories still received an absolute thrashing at the local elections and the polls for the general election that has to be held before the middle of Jan are not looking good. Prices are still out of control and the

  • Guess they saved a lot of money.

  • How does the transport industry grow and no other industry? What are they transporting?

    • by Samare ( 2779329 )

      They had a heavy goods vehicle driver shortage because of Brexit and COVID, so it grows back.

  • This kinda of growth is exactly the sort you see when leap year gives you an extra work day in Q1.

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