Eurozone diving into recession

like watching a trainwreck.
with things so volatile, it's hard to say what effect it will have on me personally.
i still have a job, so technically, for now, it will be okay.
but with increasing numbers unemployed, using community money, will leave less funds for other issues that also need attention. i think there is going to be quite a squeeze. i also don't know if there will be a recovery anywhere soon. doubtless it will not rebound as fast as it fell.

for now, i'm watching with a fair bit of horror, as our world implodes around us.

Sixteen eurozone nations suffer a 4.6 per cent fall in GDP in the first quarter

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A "disastrous" contraction in the Germany economy of 3.8 per cent in the first months of this year, equivalent to more than 15 per cent on an annualised basis, has dragged the eurozone into a deep recession. German GDP is down 6.9 per cent on this time last year; the 16-nation eurozone 4.6 per cent lower.

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Despite a comparatively healthy performance recently, thanks to her relatively large public sector, France is also now officially in recession, for the first time since 1993: GDP is down 1.2 per cent on the quarter.


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Italy and Spain, the next largest eurozone members, were also down, by 2.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. The eurozone shrank by 2.5 per cent compared with a 1.6 per cent contraction in the previous quarter. The equivalent UK figure is -1.9 per cent.

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The weaker than expected economic data will increase the pressure on the European Central Bank to relax monetary policy still further. Against the ECB's target inflation rate of 2 per cent, the latest figures show consumer price inflation in Europe at a record low of 0.6 per cent in April, and most observers expect prices to fall generally later this year.

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...accession nations such as Slovakia and Latvia, where the shrinkage was an astonishing 11.2 per cent apiece.

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