U.K. enters recession territory

England officially entered into a recession in its fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, according to data released today. Great Britain’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product dipped 1.5% from the third quarter and was down 1.8% from the year-earlier period, according to a preliminary estimate released today by the London-based Office for National Statistics. This follows a quarterly GDP fall of 0.6% in the third quarter, with the new data confirming what economists had already been saying — that the United Kingdom is in a recession. A recession typically is defined as two consecutive quarterly declines in the GDP rate. The decline was attributed to “weaker services and production industries.” Great Britain’s final GDP figures will be released in late February. Data confirming the U.K.’s recession comes four days after the British government announced that it would enact an additional asset protection program for financial institutions, including offering banks insurance on troubled assets and increasing its control of lenders (InvestmentNews, Jan. 19).