The UK emerged from the longest double-dip recession since the 1950s during the third quarter after the economy grew by a bigger-than-expected 1 per cent between July and September.
Britain’s economic output received a boost from hosting the Olympic and Paralympic games and bounced back from the extra bank holiday’s for the Queen’s diamond jubilee during the second quarter.
Economists had been expecting the UK’s gross domestic product to rise by about 0.6 per cent during the third quarter.
But Alex Jackman – senior policy adviser at the Forum of Private Business – warned: “While great news, 1 per cent is still weak growth, particularly as its likely the Olympic boom will have positively distorted that figure.
“We’ve just come out of a double-dip recession, no one wants to see a triple dip materialise, so the UK government has to act now – the time for talk is over. The coalition must slash business red tape: we need to deregulate, deregulate, deregulate to keep this growth momentum going.”