Office for National Statistics (ONS)

  • 25 Apr 2013

    Not so much ‘Happy Days’ as bumping along the bottom

    Today’s GDP figures prompted no tickertape celebrations at the ONS today – in fact, they suggest the country may do nothing more than bump along the bottom for some time.

  • 13 Feb 2013

    Growth maybe, but not for earnings

    After some less than cheery figures showing a slight fall in hourly wages in the past decade, the departing Bank of England governor heaps more pressure on David Cameron.

  • 25 Apr 2012

    These GDP figures are terrible news for the coalition

    In the end, it wasn’t marginal. This morning GDP figures show Britain clearly back in recession, the dreaded double dip, with GDP in key one at -0.2 per cent.

  • 14 Dec 2011

    Mr Miliband reminded MPs of the Chancellor’s optimistic assessment at the time of the spending review in November last year. George Osborne said at the time that private sector job creation would “far outweigh” cuts in public sector employment. But have those high hopes – based on forecasts from the independent Office of Budget Responsibility, been dashed?

  • 16 Nov 2011

    “These figures show just how much our economy is being affected by the crisis in the eurozone.” Chris Grayling, September 16 2011 The background The employment minister has pinned the blame for this week’s dire unemployment figures firmly on the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. We’ve already FactChecked the claim – increasing popular on the…

  • 14 Nov 2011

    The grim news that a “slow, painful contraction” is expected in the jobs market was met with defiance by the DWP. “We always said that the road to recovery would be tough – there is a long way to go until before we deal with all the economic challenges ahead particularly given the crisis in the Eurozone,” a spokesman said. The problem is, said the Department, the message isn’t getting through that despite the gloom, there are jobs out there. In fact, there are 10,000 new jobs advertised every day at the Jobcentre, they insisted.

  • 28 Apr 2011

    Flattening out the GDP debate

    My report yesterday on the GDP figures and Krishnan’s rather robust interview of the Chief Secretary of the Treasury has elicited some viewer feedback, and not just about my hard hat. Some correspondents felt we were talking down the economy by “arbitrarily” looking at the flat economy since the end of September, rather than 0.5 per cent growth in Q1 of this year.

  • 27 Apr 2011

    Pulling the snow over our eyes?

    Can the economy’s slow growth really be blamed on the harsh winter weather? Economics Editor Faisal Islam looks behind the headlines?

  • 16 Feb 2011

    The claim “The level of youth unemployment actually went up by 40 per cent under the last government” David Cameron MP, Prime Minister’s Questions, February 16, 2011

  • 25 Jan 2011

    GDP figures: From bad to…?

    Our Political Editor says the economists are unlikely to be offering any good news to the Government any time soon.