THE Governor of the Bank of England warned for the first time today that the British economy faces recession.

In a gloomy assessment, Mervyn King became the first such senior figure to use the "R word" and said it was "quite possible" the economy would contract this year and early next.

It came amid the fastest rise in unemployment for two years, inflation hitting three per cent and the weakest high street performance for three years. In a stark warning he said the economy was travelling along "a bumpy road" that could lead to the first recession. under New Labour. The technical definition of recession. is two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth, a situation last seen in 1991. He ...