British Economy still "frail" -- BCC.

LONDON, Oct 13 (KUNA) -- A leading business group cast doubt Tuesday on

whether the UK economy emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2009. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said business confidence was

improving but the economy was still "frail". Official GDP figures are due next

week. If they show no growth, it will be the first time the UK has endured six

successive quarters without growth. Separately, UK retail sales rose 2.8

percent from September 2008, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said. However, the BRC warned that "we mustn't get carried away" - as the figures

are compared with a "weak performance" last September when turmoil in the

financial markets hit consumer confidence. The BCC surveyed more than 5,500 companies and found that confidence

strengthened across the board. Confidence among manufacturers was at its

highest level since the beginning of 2008. However, despite "good progress" being made in both the manufacturing and

service sectors, domestic orders and sales were still down on the previous

quarter, the BCC said. "The third quarter results support our assessment that the UK economy is on

the brink of leaving recession," David Kern, chief economist at the BCC said.

"However, the improvement is not sufficiently strong to allow us to conclude

without doubt that GDP has already returned to positive growth."

Last week, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research also

estimated that the economy did not grow in the June to September quarter.

All KUNA right are reserved 2007.

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