Britain pulls tentatively out of recession

LONDON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Britain emerged from a recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 after six quarters of declines with growth that fell short of expectations, the government said.

In the first of three estimates of the country's gross domestic product, the Office for National Statistics said the British economy grew 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, which fell below the forecast of 0.4 percent growth.

If not revised lower, technically the longest recession in Britain since the Great Depression has ended.

For the year, the gross domestic product dropped 4.8 percent, the sharpest fall in 88 years, The Times of London reported online.

But the fourth-quarter figure is still tentative. ONS Chief Economist Joe Grice said revisions from the first estimate of the GDP typically add or subtract 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points, meaning the fourth-quarter GDP could have actually fallen 0.1 percent.

"This reinforces our suspicion that recovery will be gradual and prone to losses of momentum," said Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.

"This is another desperately disappointing GDP release. While the U.K. officially exited recession in the fourth quarter of 2009, it could only crawl out," he said.