The UK has moved out of recession as the economy grew by 0.6% at the start of this year, official figures show.
The country had experienced two quarters of decline - which represents a technical recession - in the back half of 2023. The Office for National Statistics announced on Friday that gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have risen by 0.6% between January and March this year. It is a faster than the 0.4% growth economists had predicted.
But Tory ministers were accused of being "out of touch" for claiming "low growth" as a "triumph" as families across the country are still worse off under the Conservative party. Labour’s Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “This is no time for Conservative ministers to be doing a victory lap and telling the British people that they have never had it so good.
"The economy is still £300 smaller per person than when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister. After 14 years of economic chaos, working people are still worse off.
"Prices are still significantly higher in the shops, families are paying hundreds of pounds more on monthly mortgage bills, and the economy is forecast to grow by just one per cent next year. It’s time for change. Only Labour has a long-term plan to grow the economy, create jobs and make working people better off.”
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Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also criticised the "mess" the Tories had created in the economy. “We have gone from no growth to very low growth," she told BBC Radio 5. "The idea that Conservative ministers are somehow claiming this as a triumph is just so out of touch with people right across the country who are still considerably worse off than they were 14 years ago, who are still facing higher mortgage payments and higher prices. So I think really we need some humility from the Government about the mess they have created in the economy.”
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said the Tories could only celebrate "making families poorer". “The UK economy has stopped shrinking. But one quarter of decent growth won’t make up for 14 years of lost living standards," he said. "The Tories are still presiding over the worst period for economic stagnation and livelihoods in modern history.
“Real wages are worth less than in 2008 and working people will end this parliament worse off than at the start. Workers would be over £10,000 richer if pay had kept pace with its pre-crisis trend. The Conservatives have succeeded only in making families poorer.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: "There is no doubt it has been a difficult few years, but today's growth figures are proof that the economy is returning to full health for the first time since the pandemic. We're growing this year and have the best outlook among European G7 countries over the next six years, with wages growing faster than inflation, energy prices falling and tax cuts worth £900 to the average worker hitting bank accounts."
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "After two quarters of contraction, the UK economy returned to positive growth in the first three months of this year.
"There was broad-based strength across the service industries with retail, public transport and haulage, and health all performing well. Car manufacturers also had a good quarter. These were only a little offset by another weak quarter for construction."
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