http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17836624
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/
UK economy in double-dip recession
'Everything is going up in the shops and wages aren't'
The UK economy has returned to recession, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012.
A sharp fall in construction output was behind the surprise contraction, the Office for National Statistics said.A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. The economy shrank by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders says it "adds to the picture that the economy is bumping along the bottom".
She said economic output was slightly smaller now than it was in the autumn of 2010.
Wednesday's figure is an early estimate and is subject to at least two further revisions in the coming months. It is compiled using 40% of the data gathered for later revisions.
The UK economy was last in recession in 2009.
Continue reading the main story
Prime Minister David Cameron said the figures were "very, very disappointing".
Ed Miliband: "Arrogant, posh boys just don't get it"
"There is no complacency at all in this government in dealing with what is a very tough situation, which frankly has just got tougher."
He said it was "painstaking, difficult" work, but the government would stick with its plans and do "everything we can" to generate growth.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said the figures were "catastrophic" and asked Mr Cameron what his excuse was.
"This is a recession made by him and the chancellor in Downing Street. It is his catastrophic economic policy that has landed us back in recession," Mr Miliband said.
Construction questions The ONS said output of the production industries decreased by 0.4%, construction decreased by 3%. Output of the services sector, which includes retail, increased by 0.1%, after falling a month earlier.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17854280
26 April 2012
Last updated at 14:32
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