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Eurozone recession continues into sixth quarter | Eurozone recession continues into sixth quarter |
(35 minutes later) | |
The recession across the 17-nation eurozone has continued into a sixth quarter, figures show. | The recession across the 17-nation eurozone has continued into a sixth quarter, figures show. |
The bloc's economy shrank by 0.2% between January and March, according to official figures. | The bloc's economy shrank by 0.2% between January and March, according to official figures. |
That left the region's economy 1% smaller for the period compared with a year ago. | That left the region's economy 1% smaller for the period compared with a year ago. |
Individual data for member countries showed nine were in recession, although Germany recorded weak growth of 0.1% in the period. | |
The figure marks the longest recession since the euro was launched in 1999. | |
It was worse than the 0.1% fall expected by economists, although gross domestic product (GDP) numbers, like other economic statistics, are subject to revisions. | |
Severe | |
The weak state of so many economies in the eurozone has led to rising unemployment. | |
About 19 million people in the 340 million-strong eurozone population are without work, with unemployment in Greece and Spain running at 27% of the workforce. | |
In France, which figures show fell into recession for the second time in four years, unemployment is 10.6%. | |
The European Central Bank acted this month to try to boost growth by cutting interest rates to 0.5%, a record low. | |
Europe's leaders have been trying to rein in debt by introducing austerity programmes of varying levels of severity. | |
The continuing level of economic pain has prompted debates about whether or not these programmes have the effect of further restricting growth, |
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