Eurozone tips into recession

November 16, 2012 | 08:58

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The 17-nation eurozone tipped into recession in the third quarter, with the economy shrinking 0.1 per cent compared with the three months to June when it contracted 0.2 per cent, official data showed Thursday.

Construction cranes at the new Berlin airport in Schoenefeld, 2011

In comparison, the full 27-state European Union eked out growth of 0.1 per cent, again after a contraction of 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, the Eurostat statistics service said in a statement.

Recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of decline, putting the eurozone technically in recession as the debt crisis undercuts growth and pushes unemployment soaring to record highs.

Compared with the third quarter in 2011, the eurozone economy shrank 0.6 per cent in the three months to September while the EU was down 0.4 per cent.

Germany, Europe's powerhouse economy and paymaster, managed growth of 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, as did France, but struggling Spain shrank 0.3 per cent and Italy was down 0.2 per cent.

Non-euro Britain posted strong growth of 1.0 per cent.

Eurostat noted that the US economy expanded 0.5 per cent in the third quarter after a previous quarter gain of 0.3 per cent while Japan contracted a sharp 0.9 per cent after growth of 0.1 per cent. Compared with a year earlier, the US economy grew 2.3 per cent and Japan 0.2 per cent.

AFP

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