The UK economy has crept out of recession like an old timer leaving a brothel – almost reluctantly and feeling decidely weaker than when he went in.

Figures showed the UK economy had grown by a feeble 0.1% in the last three months of 2009, having previously contracted for six consecutive quarters. That’s the longest abstinence from growth since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.

Everyone else at the table of big shot economies already strode back to growth. Germany and France came out of recession last summer. Japan, China and the US also exited last year.

And before we go getting excited about upward revisions – BBC’s Economics Editor Stephanie Flanders said: “Even with some revision – in fact, even if it turns out that the economy actually started to grow in the third quarter, given that the first estimate of a decline 0.4% has already been revised up to -0.2% – we are still talking about an extremely lacklustre recovery.”

Never mind about downward revisions… enjoy the moment, for what it’s worth.