U.K. Economy Slides Toward Recession

The U.K. economy contracted in the three months through September, as high energy prices and rising interest rates mark the beginning of what policy makers expect will be a long-lasting recession, part of a downturn that is likely to affect much of Europe in the coming months.

The country’s gross domestic product was 0.7% lower on an annualized basis in the third quarter compared with the three months through June, the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said Friday. That was the first decline in output since the first three months of 2021, when large parts of the economy were in lockdown to contain a surge in Covid-19 infections.