The UK economy has contracted at its fastest rate for half a century as output fell by -2.4% in Q1 2009, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which is worse that the -1.9% predicted a month ago.
Chancellor Alistair Darling said in the Budget that the economy would shrink by -3.5% by the end of the year, but the latest figures suggest that its decline would surpass -4%, analysts said.

Official figures also showed that the economy slipped into a recession three months earlier than previously thought. Revisions to figures revealed the current recession started with a -0.1% decline seen between April and June 2008 compared with previous estimates of zero growth.

The construction industry took the biggest hit, slumping by -6.9%, compared to a -2.4% drop in the previous quarter.