British economy officially in recession

Gross domestic product tumbles 1.5% in the fourth quarter, marking two straight quarters of negative growth.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)

LONDON (CNN) -- The British economy is officially in a recession, according to GDP numbers released Friday.

The British gross domestic product declined by 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the British government announced. That followed a decline of 0.5% in the third quarter.

The traditional definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

There were already hints the British economy was heading toward a recession before the fourth-quarter results emerged, because second-quarter results for 2008 had showed no change in the GDP.

"The increased rate of decline in output was due to weaker services and production industries output," Britain's Office for National Statistics announced.

Manufacturing output fell by 4.6% in the fourth quarter and was the biggest contributor to the slowdown in production, the government said.

Large declines also occurred in construction; the services sector, especially hotels and restaurants; and transport. To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More
Sponsors

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.