(The modern record starting in 1948)
Financial Times The UK economy shrank by the most in more than half a century in the first three months of the year, according to revised figures which were much
weaker than originally estimated.
The 2.4 per cent decline in gross domestic product was sharper than the 1.9 per cent initially calculated, the Office for National Statistics reported, and was greater than the 2.1 per cent fall expected by economists. About half the revision was due to the introduction of new construction sector data and the rest was bacause of more complete services sector figures showing a sharper decline.
Not since 1958 has the quarter-on-quarter decline in GDP been greater, while the 4.9 per cent drop compared to a year earlier was the largest since records began in 1948.
“‘You’ve never had it so bad’ seems the most apt summary of the state of the UK economy in Q1,” said Ross Walker, economist at RBS. “Although to some extent this is ‘old news’, it does serve to emphasise the size of the hole out of which the UK must climb...