by Calculated Risk on 10/23/2009 08:30:00 AM

From Bloomberg: U.K. Economy Unexpectedly Shrinks in Longest Slump

GDP fell 0.4 percent from the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. ... The economy has now shrunk over six quarters, the most since records began in 1955.
...
“The fact that the economy is still contracting despite the huge amount of policy stimulus supports our view that the recovery will be a long, slow process,” said Vicky Redwood, U.K. economist at Capital Economics Ltd in London and a former central bank official.
...
“This is desperately disappointing news, especially given that it was hoped that a modest recovery had begun,” said John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. “The U.K. economy is continuing to shrink, with six quarters of contraction in output making this recession look more like a depression.”

This graph is from the Office for National Statistics: UK output decreases by 0.4 per cent

This is the sixth straight quarter of contraction.

Note that the U.K. reports GDP change per quarter, whereas the U.S. reports the annual rate of change. The 0.4% decline reported in the U.K. would be similar to a 1.6% decline reported in the U.S.