Experts detail weak recovery

A THINK-TANK has warned the economic recovery in the UK was the weakest of any since the end of the First World War.

The warning came yesterday as the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said its monthly estimates suggested gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 0.5 per cent in the three months to September, against a revised 0.4 per cent in the quarter to August.

NIESR said the level of GDP in the period was still 4 per cent below the pre-recession peak – suggesting the recovery was the weakest since 1918.

The figures come as the Bank of England plans an extra £75 billion in quantitative easing to stimulate economic growth.