The U.K. economy shrank more than previously estimated in the first quarter in the biggest contraction since 1958.

Gross domestic product fell 2.4 per cent from the final three months of 2008, compared with the previous estimate of a 1.9 per cent drop, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median prediction in a Bloomberg News survey of 28 economists was for a 2.1 per cent decline.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said last week that Britain's recovery from recession may turn out to be 'a long, hard slog.' While business surveys have indicated the economic slump is easing, unemployment may continue to increase and net mortgage lending has slowed to the weakest pace since records began in 1993.

Construction slumped by 6.9 per cent on the quarter, revised down from a drop of 2.4 per cent published in May. The services decline was 1.6 per cent, revised from a 1.2 per cent drop.

U.K. financial services companies may cut 13,000 jobs in the third quarter even as they express rising optimism for the first time in two years, the Confederation of British Industry said in a report yesterday.