News Summary: UK economy contracted 0.3 percent - BusinessWeek

By The Associated Press

THE NEWS: Britain's economy contracted in the first quarter more than first estimated, shrinking by 0.3 percent from the previous three-month period.

THE DATA: The Office for National Statistics on Thursday revised its estimate from the 0.2 percent drop reported initially. The markets had expected no revision.

THE TREND: This was the second consecutive quarter of negative growth and puts Britain back in recession -- officially defined as two straight quarters of negative growth. In the last three months of 2011, the British economy contracted 0.2 percent.