Early estimates of a contraction in the U.K. economy were not enough. First quarter 2009 estimates were revisited, showing a 2.4% fall in gross domestic product from the last quarter of 2008 to 2009. This downward revision made the first three months of the year the worst since people wore skinny ties, hated communism, and bore nicknames like "Buzz."
In the second quarter of 1958, U.K. GDP plummeted 2.6%, though the 2.4% threshold matches the depths hit in 1979. The original 2009 Q1 estimate was -1.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics in London.
Though business surveys are suggesting that that financial conditions are starting to loosen, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King believes, according to Bloomberg, that we're in for "a long, hard slog." Recent data on the construction and services industries bolsters this pessimistic stance, with the former down 6.9% for the first quarter (rather than the 2.4% previously published) and the latter off 1.6% (revised from 1.2%).
Unemployment continues to find new heights, with U.K. financial services companies expected to cut up to 13,000 jobs in the coming quarter. And, those hoping for stability in the housing markets should look elsewhere: despite a June increase in U.K. housing prices of 0.9%, mortgage approvals did not grow at the rate economists expected.
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