What's the score?

Have a look at the following numbers and see if you can guess what they refer to:

• 0.0; 0.0; 0.2; 0.2; 0.7; 0.9.

I must admit that when I saw the first four numbers, I thought that they were the latest football scores. On the other hand, that is not how we normally write such scores: we put 0-0 ("nil-nil") and so on.

Also, 0-7 and 0-9 would be unusually high football scores, although I do remember my team, West Ham United, winning 8-0 against Sunderland in 1968, including six goals by Geoff (pronounced "Jeff") Hurst, the hat-trick hero of England's 1966 World Cup win against Germany. (I mention that only because Germany beat England 4-0 in the U-21 European Championship final last week.)

But I'm getting carried away, sorry. Back to our numbers. No, they are not football scores, nor are they tennis scores either: 0-7 ("love seven") would be possible in a tie break; 0-9 wouldn't.

No, the numbers — in case you haven't guessed by now — are the latest economic growth forecasts (in percentages) for 2010. The forecasts were published recently by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The zero growth forecasts are for Great Britain and the eurozone, which are both expected to stagnate next year. Not brilliant, but better than further contraction. Germany and France are predicted to grow by 0.2 per cent, while Japan will grow by 0.7 per cent and the US by 0.9 per cent. (Note that, in  English, full stops, not commas, are always used in percentage figures.)

There is good news for India and China, too. Their growth rates are expected to increase in 2010, to 7.2 per cent and 9.3 per cent, respectively (from 5.9 per cent and 7.7 per cent in 2009).

Don't shout it too loud, but the "great recession" may be about to bottom out. Things could be looking up. Hopefully, for West Ham, too, in the new season. But I'm not holding my breath — on either count.