The United States economy shrank at a 1-per-cent annual rate in the second quarter of 2009, according to a preliminary estimate released Friday by the US Commerce Department. The figure was better than economists had expected and signals that the longest US recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s has eased, though not yet ended. But the world's largest economy shrank even faster than previously reported over the course of its now 19-month recession, according to a series of revised growth figures released by the department. First-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) contracted a revised 6.4 per cent, the worst three-month stretch in 27 years, Friday's report said. That figure was updated from a 5.5-per-cent drop reported last month.
