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| UK economy returns to growth with help from Olympics | UK economy returns to growth with help from Olympics |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The UK economy emerged from recession in the three months from July to September, helped by the Olympic Games. | The UK economy emerged from recession in the three months from July to September, helped by the Olympic Games. |
| The economy grew by 1.0%, according to href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_284925.pdf" title="Link to ONS release" >official gross domestic product figures (GDP), which measure the value of everything produced in the country. | |
| The Office for National Statistics said that Olympic ticket sales had added 0.2 percentage points to the figures. | The Office for National Statistics said that Olympic ticket sales had added 0.2 percentage points to the figures. |
| All Olympic and Paralympic ticket sales counted towards July to September's GDP figure. | All Olympic and Paralympic ticket sales counted towards July to September's GDP figure. |
| The ONS said that beyond the effect of ticket sales it was hard to put an exact figure on the Olympic effect, although it cited increased hotel and restaurant activity in London as well as strength from employment agencies. | |
| The GDP figures were also enhanced by comparison with the previous three months, because the second quarter had an extra public holiday as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June, as well as unusually bad weather, which reduced growth. | |
| The economy had been in recession for the previous nine months and has still not recovered the levels of output seen before the financial crisis in 2008. | |
| The ONS said that the economy had contracted by 6.4% between the start of 2008 and the middle of 2009, and had since recovered about half of that output. | |
| The level of GDP in the third quarter of 2012 was almost exactly the same as it had been in the third quarter of 2011. | |
| "There is still a long way to go, but these figures show we are on the right track," said Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. | |
| "Yesterday's weak data from the eurozone were a reminder that we still face many economic challenges at home and abroad." | |
| Labour questioned whether the figures were a sign of a sustained recovery. | |
| "The question is what the underlying growth rate of the economy is when we strip out the one-off Olympics and Bank Holiday effects," said Rachel Reeves, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury. | |
| "A one-off boost from the Olympics is no substitute for a long-term strategy and should not breed yet more complacency from David Cameron and George Osborne." | |
| What is your reaction? What has been your experience of the UK economy this year? Send us your comments using the form below. |