This has been the case for some considerable time, a good many years in fact. As I have pointed out time and time again, the economy has been fundamentally weak for the past 4 - 5 years and now, without the input of the immigrant population and the black economy, it would be at rock bottom.
I almost published my piece on this some years ago 'The economy is booming, but at what cost?'. I want to see whether the bright minds of the British media reach their journalistic nirvana in this instance. What a mess the press!