UK shocked as recession deepens

The British economy is officially in its worst recession in over 50 years after Chancellor George Osborne announced the GDP has shrunken by 0.7 percent in 2012’s second quarter.

The figure marks the third consecutive quarterly drop in GDP that is unprecedented since 1955.

In his statement, Osborne admitted that Britain has “deep-rooted economic problems” but tried to indirectly blame the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee day off and the recent floods in the country for the GDP downfall saying “what’s happening in the world” had an impact on the issue.

While figures show the GDP plunge was driven by a slump in the construction sector, the Office for National Statistics’ chief economist Joe Grice said “it does seem to make sense particularly in construction that weather would have had an adverse impact.”

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves has directly blamed the “deepening double-dip recession” on Osborne himself writing in a Twitter post “GDP down 0.7% in Q2 – disastrous verdict on George Osborne’s failed plan.”

The news of the 0.7 GDP plunge comes as analysts did expect a downfall in the second quarter yet the worst estimates put the figure at 0.2 percent.

The drop that is the worst quarterly economic outlook in Britain since 2009 means that the economy is now 0.8 percent smaller than it was last year.