- A recession at the tail end of 2023 is old news for markets
- But a weakening pound could be good news for many UK firms
The number of people in the UK googling the term 'recession' soared in mid-February as the fateful gross domestic product (GDP) data was released. Search interest for the term was, remarkably, more intense last month than it was both after the financial crisis or during the pandemic. As far as the public is concerned, the ‘R word’ still carries huge clout.
Investors are more sanguine. Stock markets largely shrugged off the news, while sterling only declined modestly against the dollar in response. This is partly because the recession is already old news.