The world's economies limped toward Christmas on Tuesday, with Britain contracting more sharply than first thought, Spain tumbling into recession and New Zealand's downturn deepening.

U.S. GDP figures at 8:30 a.m. EST are forecast to show an unrevised 0.5 percent slide by the world's biggest economy, more evidence that global stimulus measures, bank bail outs and interest rates heading for zero may not prevent the worst downturn in decades.

The British economy shrank by 0.6 percent in the third quarter, revised data showed, the worst quarterly decline since 1990 and worse also than the earlier 0.5 percent estimate.

"It really does paint an exceptionally gloomy picture about the speed with which the UK economy has lapsed into recession," said Matthew Sharratt, UK economist at Bank of America.

He forecast worse to come.

New Zealand's economy declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in the third quarter, the biggest drop in eight years, following a 0.2 percent fall in Q2.

And Spain succumbed to recession for the first time in 15 years. Spain's ISA activity indicator, which tracks gross domestic product, contracted 1.5 percent year-on-year between October and December, according to Economy Ministry data.

"The ISA shows the trend, and the trend is that the fall in fourth quarter GDP is going to be steeper than in the third," a ministry spokeswoman said.

Italian consumer confidence fell for a third month running in December but French consumer spending rose unexpectedly in November, driven by purchases of household goods and despite a continued slump in car sales.