The United States economy began growing again in the third quarter of the year, according to new official figures. The economy grew by 0.9%, an annual rate of 3.5% which is the first sign of improvement in more than a year.

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Tim Geithner: 'This is just a beginning. Unemployment remains unacceptably high. For every person out of work, for every family facing foreclosure, for every small business facing a credit crunch, the recession remains alive and acute'.

Among the other leading developed economies, France, Germany and Japan returned to economic growth three months earlier than the US, though the downturn was deeper in Germany and Japan. Britain is the only other major economy to report its performance for the third quarter. Unlike the US, Britain showed a continued decline. The global picture is thus one of a widening recovery. But it has not reached everywhere and it is not particularly strong.

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a recovery underway
the process of getting the economy back to its previous healthy condition has begun

consumers
people who buy goods

dependent
reliant on the actions of others

subsidies
money given (usually by the government) to help to pay for something

claim victory
declare or tell everyone that he has been successful

tackling the recession
dealing with and trying to find a solution to the economic difficulties of the country

unacceptably high
too great to be accepted or approved of

facing foreclosure
dealing with the prospect of losing their houses because they cannot afford to pay back the loan the bank gave them to buy it

remains alive and acute
is still happening and is still extreme and causing lots of problems for people

a continued decline
still getting worse, not improving

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