Not unlike the US who have also revised the numbers, the UK is looking even worse than expected and everyone already thought it was bad. Also like the US, if it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable to suggest a 2009 recovery. Not. Going. To. Happen. Even if these economies were hitting on all cylinders - and they're not - eating through years of insane spending would be a struggle.
Revised data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that gross domestic product shrank by 1.6% in the last three months of 2008, rather than the 1.5% previously reported. Worse than previously expected output in construction and services was blamed for the downward revision.It's impossible for Gordon Brown to run away from this recession. He was the economic brain of the Blair administration and when times were good, he looked like a genius. Now he just looks like, well, Gordon Brown.
It is the worst performance since the second quarter of 1980 and confirms Britain is in the middle of a deep downturn following a contraction of 0.7% in the third quarter of last year and zero growth in the second.
The annual decline was also revised lower, to 2% from 1.9% previously, the worst since 1991.
