* The recession has affected different parts of the economy in
different ways. In the UK some sectors, such as government or
financial services, have been hard hit.
* Other parts of the economy have done comparatively
well.
* The UK labour market, for instance, has proved
unexpectedly resilient. Business services, a broad sector, which
includes computing, legal services, accounting, management
consultancy, engineering and advertising, has posted growth of
almost 10% over the last two years. And the UK's largest
companies have come through in pretty good shape.
* We have just looked at some of the key financial
metrics for the UK's top 350 quoted companies that make up
the FTSE350 index. What emerged was a picture of sustained
outperformance compared with the broader UK economy driven, in
large part, by growth in overseas markets.
