UK only grew 0.1% in Q4: NIESR

The British economy just managed to achieve growth in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

NIESR estimated gross domestic product grew by 0.1% in the last three months of the year, compared with the third quarter, reports the Telegraph.

The Institute said the figures suggested the economy grew by 1% in 2011, less than half the rate of 2010, when GDP increased by 2.1%.

NIESR's assessment comes ahead of the first official estimate, which is to be published by the Office for National Statistics on January 25.

The data coincided with weaker-than-expected industrial production data for November, and a deteriorating outlook for the UK according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Philip Shaw, economist at Investec, told the Telegraph the industrial data did "not bode well" for GDP in the fourth quarter: "There is a growing risk that the recession started in Q4 last year rather than in Q1 this year."