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‘Triple Dip’ Recession Eyed in Britain

Unprecedented.

Britain’s economy continued to shrink in the fourth quarter, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Friday, meaning that the country could be headed for an unprecedented “triple dip” recession. The country’s gross domestic product shrank 0.3 percent in the final quarter of 2012, with the economy still below its September 2011 levels and smaller by 3.3 percent than in 2008. Sterling fell Friday to its lowest levels against the euro in over a year, and output by Britain’s manufacturing sector dropped by 1.5 percent in the quarter and 1.8 percent for the year as a whole. Britain entered a recession in September 2011, but briefly rallied earlier this year, buoyed by the London Olympics and the queen’s Diamond Jubilee.