LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Britain's economy slowed even more sharply than expected in the last three months of 2008 as construction output plunged, official data showed on Friday.
The Office for National Statistics said the economy shrank by 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter, the sharpest decline since 1980. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading of -1.5 percent. The annual rate of decline was revised down to 2.0 percent, the sharpest fall since 1991.
The ONS said a huge downward revision to construction output was the main reason for the revision. Construction output fell 4.9 percent in the quarter, the biggest quarterly fall since Q4 1980.
The household saving ratio jumped to 4.8 percent, the highest since Q1, 2006 and compared with 1.7 percent in the previous quarter.
Separate figures showed Britain's current account deficit narrowed to 7.641 billion pounds in the fourth quarter of 2008 from an upwardly revised deficit of 8.162 billion pounds in Q3.