Economists typically define recession as two straight quarters of economic contraction.
Declines for the pound came as William Hague resigned as leader of the Conservative Party.
Yesterday's general election pushed the pound to a 15-year low against the dollar on speculation his successor may temper the opposition party's resistance to adopting the European common currency.
Sterling tumbled to as weak as US$1.3774, from US$1.3927 yesterday, before recovering to US$1.3795. Against the euro it fell to a three-week low of 61.60 pence, from 61.07 pence.
The euro was virtually unchanged against the dollar, at US$85.05. It dropped as low as US$84.61 earlier after a weaker-than- forecast German industrial output report stoked concern the euro- zone economy is slowing. Prodution unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in April.
The 12-nation currency fell to a six-month low of US$84.27 Tuesday, and has weakened about 27 percent against the dollar since its January 1999 inception.
In trading on Friday, the dollar rose to the highest since April 1986 against a basket of six currencies, including the euro, yen, British pound and three others.
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