The UK economy contracted by 1.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, according to new figures released today.
The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show a worse than expected decline. When taken in combination with the previous quarter, it represents the worst six month decline in the history of the ONS.
The decline in the manufacturing sector is responsible for a significant portion of this contraction. The sector shrank by 6.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, and by 4.9 per cent in the last quarter of 2008.
But George Buckley, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, told the BBC that he does not think "GDP is going to contract at these sort of rates for any longer," although he predicted a constant decline throughout 2009.
