GDP data expected to show economy remains sluggish

This Thursday’s release of the country’s latest economic scorecard will confirm what most businesses and consumers already know: the economy remains stuck in a rut.

Economists are forecasting a GDP reading for the first quarter of between minus 0.1 percent and plus 0.2 percent. And if the data does show a further contraction, then that would mean five out of the last six quarters would have recorded falls in output.