According to a report released by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK economy grew by 0.3 percent during the first quarter of 2013, following a contraction of 0.3 percent in the final quarter of 2012, both compared to the previous quarter. The ONS said that the UK economy has been unable to recover the output lost during the 2008-09 recession and remains 2.6 percent below its pre-recession peak.
Meanwhile, during the first quarter this year the unemployment rate in the UK remained unchanged quarter on quarter at 7.8 percent and fell by 0.4 percentage points compared to the same period a year ago.