“Services growth in December pushes up GDP estimate” was the headline on ONS’s press release announcing last week’s revised estimate of GDP in the final quarter of 2009.

The generation born in the wake of World War II is getting the blame for the economic mess we’re in.

An article in last week’s Sunday Times comparing pay and conditions in the private and public sector has caused controversy, with charges that the comparisons made were unfair.

New Year’s Day, and the end of a decade, is as good a time as any to look at the economy’s vital signs.

The Financial Times today publishes a fascinating analysis by Chris Giles of the decline of manufacturing in the UK since Labour came to power.

Today the ONS issued a statement on inflation containing the sentence: "In the year to October, RPI annual inflation fell by 0.8 per cent, compared with a fall of 1.4 per cent in September".

When a minister calls an inquiry the day before key statistics are due to appear, smell a rat. Sniff even harder when the inquiry is leaked to a few journalists, and nothing appears on the departmental website.

The recession deepened in the first quarter of 2009, as the UK's GDP fell by 1.9 per cent, compared with 1.6 per cent the previous quarter. The increased rate of decline in output was due to weaker services and production output, latest figures from ONS show. 

The jobless total has risen above two million for the first time since 1997, as the recession takes a hold.