Business investment in Britain rose by a revised 1.9 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with the previous quarter, and was up 7.2 percent over the first quarter of 2003, official data showed on Thursday. This compares with provisional estimates of rises of 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 4.4 percent year-on-year issued in May. The Office for National Statistics said the final figure for business investment stood at a seasonally-adjusted 29.019 billion pounds in the first quarter. This was revised up slightly from the preliminary estimate but the main reason for the revision in the quarterly growth figure was a sharp downward revision to fourth quarter 2003 business investment, which stood at 28.489 billion pounds. Economists said the figures were yet another sign of the strength of the economy. "This adds another piece to the jigsaw that the UK economy is recovering and that that recovery is widespread," said Philip Shaw, economist at Investec. However, the data also showed investment in the manufacturing sector falling. It was down 1.5 percent from the previous quarter and down 6.9 percent from the first three months of last year. Investment in services was up 3.4 percent in the first quarter, while construction and other production fell by 2.7 percent since the final three months of last year, the ONS said.///