Is recession finally over?

Britain is set to move out of recession and record growth in GDP of 0.5 per cent in the current quarter, the Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and Wales will say this morning. The ICAEW’s business confidence monitor shows confidence among professionals has turned positive for the first time in two years. The organisation’s survey has closely tracked the economy and the ICAEW says it is therefore confident of predicting growth of 0.5 per cent this quarter. In a further sign of optimism, the CBI said Britain’s services sector, which accounts for about two-thirds of the economy, is finally stabilising. Britain’s economy has been a laggard in the developed world, showing a contraction of 0.8 per cent in the second quarter. While that was a marked improvement on the first quarter’s 2.4 per cent slump, France, Germany and Japan were all able to report growth over the same period.