CBI: Economic recovery remains fragile

Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser, acknowledges the influence of special factors on data but warns that economic recovery remains difficult:

"This is the third consecutive quarter in which special factors, such as the winter weather, unseasonal North Sea maintenance, the Japanese tsunami and an extra bank holiday, have made interpretation of the data more difficult and have depressed economic activity over the short term.

"There is likely to be some bounce back over the autumn, but it's clear that the underlying economic recovery remains fragile and difficult."