This is the first time that one of the major forecasters has predicted that the UK will suffer a recession. The predicted rate of growth of the economy was reduced from 1.8% to 1.2% for the year as a whole, but as two consecutive quarters have negative growth this is classified as a technically a recession.
This contrasts with the Eurozone and the US, where growth forecasts have been raised to 1.8% for the latter. The OECD said that "financial markets turmoil, housing market downturns, and high commodity prices continue to bear down on glabal growth".
On the inflation front howevr there was better news in the forecast as it was predicted that both headline and underlying inflation would see some moderation, assuming commodity prices stayed where they are.
