Wednesday's figure has only really served to underline the general sloth of the UK economy and does nothing to change my expectation that the UK economy will grow by no more than 0.6% this year, which is hardly a cause for celebration.
We are living in the midst of an economic meltdown, which as the latest economic figures reveal is being made worse not better by a Chancellor whose incompetence and mendacity is now beyond doubt.
The Guardian yesterday published research that shows 3.6m households in the UK are a short step away from poverty, but one simple measure would help these families and boost the wider economy - make childcare tax-deductible.
One of the things Sir John Vickers got absolutely right in his report on the banking industry - issued yesterday - was the scale of the regulatory reform that was already under way.
PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Chancellor George Osborne has conceded that Britain's economic recovery will be "longer and harder" than hoped amid renewed turmo...
PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Britain will have a "bumpy and uneven recovery" and ministers must be ready to change economic policy if growth and inflation do ...