The U.K.’s Office of National Statistics earlier confirmed what most Britons already knew; namely that the U.K. economy had found itself bemired in yet another recession, the second since the financial crisis began, and the Bank of England is predicting that the current quarter is also likely to show a contraction. According to the data, the U.K. economy contracted in the first quarter, with GDP on a quarter-over-quarter basis reported at -0.2%, while economists had predicted 0.1% growth. A 3% decline in construction output, the largest in three years, as well as a drop in industrial output and lackluster growth in the services sector contributed to the surprisingly dismal read. Read more