Economic growth faster than expected as Britain exits recession

The economy is out of recession. It grew by 1 per cent in the third quarter of this year, which is the fastest quarterly growth rate since 2007.

This positive number makes it a lot easier for the coalition to claim that the economy is ‘healing’. Expect to see ministers heading to TV studios to talk about how a million more private sector jobs have been created, how there are record number of new start ups and that inflation is down. Being out of recession makes it a lot easier for the coalition to defend its economic record.

Today’s number should also serve to boost consumer confidence, to provide a little bit of a ‘feel-good’ factor.

Now, there are obviously unique factors involved in this growth figure. Olympic ticket sales, for instance, added 0.2 per cent to GDP. But, politically, these numbers will be a shot in the arm to the coalition.