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1/7/2009 GDP Down-House Prices Up
Britain's recession-battered economy shrank at its fastest pace in more than 50 years during the first quarter of 2009 in the worst global slowdown in decades, revised official data showed on Tuesday.
Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 2.4 percent in the first three months of the year compared to the final quarter of 2008, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
Despite the worse-than-expected data, analysts predicted a brighter future for the economy as figures showed house prices recovering.
"GDP in real terms fell by 2.4 percent (in the first quarter) compared with the previous quarter, revised down from last month's estimate of 1.9 percent," the ONS said in its statement.
This is the largest decrease since the second quarter of 1958. Around half the revision ... is a result of new construction output data, while the remainder reflects more complete data for services," it added.
On a year-on-year basis, Britain's economy declined by 4.9 percent in the first quarter, the largest contraction since records began in 1948, and compared to the statistic office's earlier estimate of minus 4.1 percent.