UK economic growth revised down to 0.3% contraction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-17533800

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The UK's economic growth for the last three months of 2011 has been revised down to a contraction of 0.3%.

The first two estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a contraction of 0.2%.

The ONS blamed the revision on the transport and communications and business services and finance sectors.

It also said real household disposable income had fallen by 1.2% in 2011, the biggest decline since 1977.

The annual figure for 2011 growth has also been revised down from 0.7% to 0.5%.

Economists still expect that the economy will have grown in the first three months of 2012, meaning there would not have been a technical return to recession.

The pound fell to a two-week low against the US dollar of $1.5904 after the release of the data.