The economy is above its pre-crisis level – but when will voters feel the benefit?

The economy is now, at last, larger than its pre-recession peak. The coalition parties are keen to claim vindication this morning. Nick Clegg has declared that ‘The rescue has worked’ and used today’s numbers to justify the Liberal Democrat’s decision to go into coalition. While George Osborne is celebrating a ‘major milestone in our long term economic plan’. But he’s also keen to warn that ‘there is still a long way to go’ and to emphasise that ‘the mistakes of the past’ must not be repeated. In other words, don’t let Labour back in.

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Political symbolism aside, GDP is still lower in per capita terms today than it was before the recession. It is also, as the FT’s Chris Giles points out, only services which have fully recovered their lost output.