MW: U.K. fourth-quarter GDP sees unrevised 1.5% drop
British gross domestic product shrank at a quarterly rate of 1.5% in the final three months of 2008, the Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday. That matched the agency's initial estimate of fourth-quarter GDP performance. Economists had expected GDP to be revised down slightly to a 1.6% quarterly decline. Compared to the final quarter of 2007, GDP shrank 1.9%, compared to a preliminary estimate of 1.8%. The annual figure was in line with expectations. The quarterly decline was the largest since 1980. The ONS also downwardly revised third quarter GDP to show a 0.7% quarterly fall, compared to a previous estimate of 0.6%.
