Recession ‘may not be as deep’

New industrial output figures for June, released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) indicate the recession may not have been as deep in Q2 of 2012 as previously reported. Industrial production dropped by 2.5% from May, partly due to the impact of an extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Jubilee, the ONS indicated. A 2.5% decline is a smaller drop in output than was previously reported and may lead to an upward revision of the original figure of 0.7% decline. The UK has seen economic conditions deteriorate in recent months as the government’s austerity program and eurozone debt crisis has deeply hit confidence and curtailed demand. The ONS also reported that manufacturing fell 2.9% from May to June, less than the predicted 4.3% fall in output forecast by economists in survey.