Getty Images<\/span>Copyright: Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Figures released in February by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the UK fell into a recession in the second half of 2023.<\/p>\n GDP fell by 0.3% in the last three months of 2023 – which was a sharper fall than economists were expecting.<\/p>\n This gave us two consecutive falls in GDP after a decrease of 0.1% in the three months before – between July and September 2023.<\/p>\n As a result the UK entered what is defined as \u201ca technical recession\u201d.<\/p>\n Industry group the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said February\u2019s news suggested the UK was in \u201cdire straits\u201d, while the anti-poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation raised concerns for those already struggling with bills and food prices.<\/p>\n At the time, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “The big picture is that, actually, since then the economy has been more resilient, unemployment has stayed low, real wages have been rising now for six months.<\/p>\n “And if we stick to our guns now, we can see light at the end of the tunnel.”<\/p>\n