LONDON, England - February 28, 2009 - The United States was hit by its most brutal slump in a quarter of a century at the end of last year as consumers and businesses reined in spending, fueling fears that the world recession may be deeper than already feared.

Drastic revisions to official GDP figures that were far larger than expected showed the world's biggest economy was shrinking at an annual rate of 6.2 per cent in the final quarter of last year.

The pace of contraction, the worst since early 1982, was much worse than the 3.8 per cent rate initially estimated and the news jolted markets worldwide, rekindling anxieties over the threat of a global Depression.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index of U.S. blue-chip shares fell by more than 1 per cent by early afternoon, while the Dow Jones industrial average sank by about 0.5 per cent. The overhaul of the U.S. figures means that Amerika suffered an even sharper decline in the fourth quarter than Britain, which many economists have warned was set to bear much of the brunt of the global downturn.

On an equivalent basis, U.S. GDP plummeted by 1.6 per cent in the quarter, compared with a plunge of 1.5 per cent suffered by the UK, and a matching 1.5 per cent drop initially reported for the 16-nation eurozone.