Recession

Britain's fall back into recession will drag on until June at the earliest and condemn the country to another lost year, economists have warned.

Industry commentators forecast an even gloomier second quarter after the Office for National Statistics revealed the UK slid back into recession in Q1, with negative growth of 0.2%.

UK RECESSION

The UK is officially back in recession as preliminary figures show the economy contracted 0.2% in Q1.

The UK is back in recession, according to the latest growth projections from the OECD, while the recovery in the G7 economies remains ‘fragile'.

Ireland fell back into recession in the last quarter of 2011, according to official figures released on Thursday.

Developed economies face a minimum of two further recessions before a recovery pushes equities into bull market territory, according to SocGen's Albert Edwards.

Britain's dominant services sector grew at its fastest pace in 10 months in January, reflecting a more optimistic company view, the Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed.

The UK and Europe will both slip into recession in 2012, according to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

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