(MarketWatch) — The U.S. recession was even deeper than previously thought, a new government report showed on Friday.

As part of an annual revision of data on U.S. gross domestic product, the Commerce Department said that the economy contracted by 5.1% between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2009, more than the 4.1% previously estimated.
It ranks as the most severe recession in the post-World War II era.
As a result of the revision, GDP is now still below the pre-recession peak, economists said.