The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed some positive news for the UK economy after GDP contracted by 0.7% in the April to June period - rather than the 0.8% previously reported.
The 0.7% fall is also a considerable improvement on the 2.4% contraction in the January March quarter.
Meanwhile, the year on year fall has been revised from 5.6% to 5.5%. However, this is still the worst annual drop since records began in 1955.
According to the ONS, the upward revision was due to a pick up in the manufacturing, energy, wholesaling and motor vehicle sectors.
However, in spite of the revised figures, the UK economy is still in recession, while France, Germany and Japan have all emerged from recession after reporting positive growth in the April to June period.
There are hopes that the UK economy will experience positive growth in the July to September period.
Colin Ellis at Daiwa Securities said: “I think this breakdown is consistent with the chance of seeing positive growth in Q3.”
In other economic news this week, the Confederation of British Industry revealed a fall in UK retail sales in August - the fourth consecutive month of declines.
According to the survey, the balance of retailers who had seen a fall in sales rather than a rise had dipped to -16 in August, from -15 the previous month.
Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that business investment in Britain fell by 10.4% in the April to June period - the biggest quarterly fall since 1985.
Official figures show that the amount spent by businesses on a range of investments, such as new computers and building works, fell to £29.8 billion during the period.
However, on a positive note, the Nationwide reported a 1.6% rise in house prices for August.
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