UK economy shrank less than earlier thought in Q4

LONDON (AP) — Britain's economy shrank by half a percent in the last quarter of 2010, not quite as bad as previously thought, official statisticians said Tuesday, though their final figure did little to ease apprehension about the course of the recovery.

The estimate by the Office for National Statistics was a bit better than the 0.6 percent drop reported previously, but analysts detected worrying trends within the data.

"The only positive growth came from government spending and that is now in the process of being reversed," said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight.

"Consumer spending contracted, business investment stagnated ... and net trade …