Shock slowdown in UK growth as GDP contracts 0.3pc

The figures provide further confirmation of the weak state of Britain's economy at the end of last year, but offer few clues as to whether it managed to stage a recovery early this year. Economists had expected unrevised readings of -0.2pc quarter-on-quarter and 0.7pc year-on-year, but the Office for National Statistics said the economy contracted 0.3pc between October and December. Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The sharper than previously reported drop in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2011 is obviously disappointing but it does not fundamentally change the story of an economy that saw fitful and muted overall growth in 2011, with a relapse in activity at the end of the year. "Attention is now firmly focused on whether the economy has returned to growth in the first quarter; and, if it has, can it build on this in still difficult conditions?" The ONS said the downward revision was driven by the transport and communication and business services and financial sectors. Pressure on consumers continued during the quarter. Household income fell and the saving ratio also eased to 7.7pc in the quarter, its lowest since the start of the year. The ONS said real household disposable incomes in 2011 as a whole fell 1.2pc.