The CBI was surprised by the announcement from the ONS that the UK is back in recession after a 0.2% contraction in the economy in the first quarter of the year.
John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said:
“This disappointing news comes as something of a surprise. Since the turn of the year, business confidence has improved and, while still challenging, underlying economic conditions also appear to have strengthened.
“In particular, the weakness of the services sector data does not tally closely with a range of survey indicators suggesting that the sector has been picking up through the first quarter.
“Looking forward, there are indications that the economy is slowly recovering from the blow to confidence and activity which resulted from last autumn’s turmoil in Eurozone financial markets.”