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| Decline of the UK economy worsens | Decline of the UK economy worsens |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The UK economy shrank 1.9% in the first three months of 2009, according to gross domestic product (GDP) data from the Office for National Statistics. | The UK economy shrank 1.9% in the first three months of 2009, according to gross domestic product (GDP) data from the Office for National Statistics. |
| The figure was much worse than the expected level of about 1.5% and followed the contraction of 1.6% in the previous three month period. | The figure was much worse than the expected level of about 1.5% and followed the contraction of 1.6% in the previous three month period. |
| It was the biggest decline in GDP since the third quarter of 1979. GDP for the year to the end of March fell 4.1%. | |
| GDP measures the value of all the goods and services produced by a country. | GDP measures the value of all the goods and services produced by a country. |
| It was the third consecutive quarter of negative growth in GDP, and confirms that the economy is still deep in recession. | |
| The biggest contributor to the decline was the manufacturing sector, which shrank 6.2% in the first three months of the year, having decreased 4.9% in the previous quarter. |