Stagnant days are here again!

It’s not time to break out the bubbly yet, but perhaps a nice cup of tea could be justified.

I was premature last month in thinking that the recession might already have ended. The latest growth estimates from the NIESR are out, and suggest that the economy shrank by 0.4% in the April-June quarter.

Not nice, although much better than the 2.4% drop in the previous quarter. As the press release puts it:

the UK economy is now stagnating rather than continuing to contract at a sharp pace

Which is something.

Indeed, breaking it down into monthly figures, GDP was up in June – perhaps the beginning of the end.