Bumping along the bottom, according to the latest OECD’s Economic Outlook published on Wednesday.
Fom Reuters. Emphasis ours;
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its latest economic outlook that the slowdown in its 30 member countries was close to the bottom. Anaemic growth of 0.7 percent should return to the area next year after a 4.1 percent fall this year.
That was a slight improvement from its previous forecast for a contraction of 0.1 percent in 2010 following a 4.3 percent fall this year.
“This is the first time since 2007 that we have revised up the projection,” OECD chief economist Jorgen Elmeskov told Reuters.
“The bad news is that the projection still implies that we are only nearing the bottom now and the recovery that follows is going to be a very slow one, probably a fragile one.”
As for the UK, things are not so good.
Britain’s economy will shrink by 4.3 percent this year, its fastest pace of decline since World War Two, and stagnate in 2010, top international researchers said on Wednesday.
The OECD’s 2009 forecast is bleaker than in its last outlook in March, when it predicted the British economy would shrink by 3.7 percent, but it is fractionally more upbeat about 2010, seeing output unchanged rather than contracting by 0.2 percent
Related link:
OECD sees strongest outlook since 2007 – FT