By Chris Dorrell New figures are likely to confirm that the UK economy fell into a shallow recession in the second half of last year, but experts are hopeful that 2024 will be a better year. City economists think that UK GDP shrunk by 0.3 per cent in December, meaning that the economy will have contracted 0.1 per cent across the fourth quarter. December’s figures, set to be published on Thursday, will be weighed down by yet more strike action, which impacted both the health sector and rail industry. Already published retail sales figures showed the steepest drop since January 2021 which will h…