Britain’s economic output decreased by 0.5 per cent in the April—June quarter this year, slightly less than previously thought.
“UK gross domestic product (GDP) in volume terms decreased by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, revised from the previously estimated 0.7 per cent decline,” the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
The main causes of the revision to GDP came from upward revisions to both the construction and production industries, with each contributing around 0.1 per centage points to the upward revision to GDP.
Output of the production industries fell by 0.9 per cent, within which manufacturing output also fell by 0.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, output of the services industries fell by 0.1 per cent, while output of the construction industry fell by 3.9 per cent.
ONS further noted that this “indicates a mild contraction and reflects the difficult economic conditions faced by businesses and consumers, domestically and globally“.
Britain has been in recession after posting two successive negative quarters since late 2011.
The economy shrank 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year and by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.
“The weakness of growth over the last three quarters means that GDP is now around the same level as it was in the second quarter of 2010, so GDP growth has been broadly flat over the last two years,” ONS said.