Recession ‘will be over today’

OFFICIAL figures due this morning are set to confirm that the economy came out of recession in the last quarter of 2009.
The economy has contracted for a record six consecutive quarters – making this downturn the longest and deepest since record began – but the signs of green shoots of recovery  have been seem of late.
Last week, it was revealed that unemployment in the UK fell for the first time in 18 months. The majority of retailers also fared well over the Christmas trading period.
The UK is one of the last major economies still in recession. Europe’s two biggest economies – Germany and France – came out of it last summer.
The UK recession began in the April-June quarter of 2008. Since then the economy has shrunk by 6%. More thasn 800,000 jobs have been lost.
The Office for National Statistics will release the latest GDP figures – for the final three months of 2009 at 9.30am.
Although the end of the recession is an important milestone, funding for businesses is still challenging.