Recession

THE BIG QUESTION

July US employment figures have come in well ahead of economists' estimates, helping stave off fears of a new US recession, despite a small rise in the unemployment rate to 8.3%.

A top Bank of England economist has said his profession should take part of the blame for the financial crisis, according to the Telegraph.

The UK economy shrank by 0.7% in the second quarter of the year, a far worse contraction than economists had forecast, keeping the UK mired in recession.

The UK narrowly escaped a double-dip recession by posting slight growth in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest monthly GDP estimate from NIESR.

Think-tank NIESR has warned rising unemployment rates, which will hit 9% by the end of the year, will do permanent damage to the UK's productive capacity.

FIVE THINGS

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%.

RECESSION