Office for National Statistics

Capital Economics expects the Bank of England to cut the UK's base rate from 0.5% in an effort to stimulate growth, after last week's GDP figure showed the economy is shrinking faster than feared.

The UK economy shrank by 0.7% in the second quarter of the year, a far worse contraction than economists had forecast, keeping the UK mired in recession.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation fell to 2.4% in June, from 2.8% in May, official figures show.

ANNUITIES

The decline in UK GDP growth in the first quarter of 2012 was today revealed to be worse than expected, after the Office for National Statistics reported a worse than feared fall of 0.3%.

Inflation in the UK dropped in April, beatings the consensus forecast.

The UK's unemployment rate showed a surprise fall from 8.3% to 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The UK pensions bill hit £7.1trn at the end of 2010, weighed down by firms with defined benefit (DB) schemes owing £1.3trn in pension obligations, national statistics show.

RECESSION

The UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year, meaning it has slipped back into technical recession, preliminary estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.