Forties People

The UK economy grew at a quicker rate than previously thought during the final quarter of 2009, a new report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) states.

A growth of 0.3 per cent for the period of October to December was originally recorded by the ONS, but that figure has now been revised to an increased 0.4 per cent.

The quarter represents the first period of economic growth since the beginning of 2008, delete comma and ONS attributed the revised figure to increased output from the agricultural, construction and services sectors.

However, Britain's total productivity throughout 2009 hit an all time low with a depreciation of 4.9 per cent and the country's gross domestic product (GDP) ended at 3.1 per cent lower than the corresponding quarter in 2008.

These figures are in line with the predictions of the International Monetary Fund, with Britain's trade deficit increasing to £3 billion in real terms in 2009's final quarter.

Jonathan Loynes, economist at Capital Economics, said: "Overall, this is some welcome news but the big picture of a fragile and unbalanced recovery is unchanged."

Posted by James Strang.