Britain was left lagging behind Germany and France today as Europe's
two biggest economies officially came out of recession for the first
time in a year.
The French and German economies both grew by 0.3 per cent in the second
quarter of this year, surprising economists who had expected to see
a 0.3 per cent fall.
The development will embarrass Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair
Darling who last year claimed that Britain was 'better placed than
other economies to withstand the slowdown in the global economy.'
And the positive news from France and Germany stands in stark contrast
with business sentiment in the UK where the economy shrank by 0.8
percent in the second quarter.
Germany is Europe's largest economy and had contracted by 3.5 per cent in the first three months of the year.
'The most brutal recession in German economic history since WWII... is over,' said UniCredit analyst Andreas Rees.
