UK back in recession

A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. As the economy shrank by 0.3% in the last three months of 2011, and again by a further 0.2% in the first three months of 2012, Britain is now experiencing the much-feared ‘double-dip’.

The country was last in recession between 2008 and 2009, when the economy shrank by 7.1%. The last time the country suffered from a double-dip recession was in the 1970s.

Construction has been the hardest hit industry this time around, with output tumbling 3% since the beginning of the year. The production industries fell 0.4% and service industries 0.1%.

The news comes a week after further figures showed unemployment rates across the country have fallen. Numbers in the North West, however, were up 18,000 to 325,000 – an unemployment rate of around 9.6%.