Free Republic

Europe will take longer to recover from its economic crisis as it tackles a worse-than-expected recession in the eurozone and unemployment at record levels, the European Union warned Friday. In its spring economic forecast, the EU said that gross domestic product in the 17 member countries that use the euro will shrink by 0.4 percent this year; better than the 0.6 percent contraction in 2012, but 0.1 percentage points worse than the EU had forecast back in February. The report also had bad news for the wider 27-country EU: it now expects the region’s economy to shrink by 0.1 percent...

Germany's economy collapsed by 0.6pc in the final three months of last year as the eurozone recession finally caught up with the currency bloc’s most powerful member. A sharp fall in exports from the region’s trading hub caused the larger-than-expected decline, as official figures showed that the eurozone as a whole slumped 0.6pc in the quarter, the worst performance in over three years. The currency area has contracted for three quarters running and by 0.5pc for the year as a whole. It is 1pc smaller than in September 2011. Economists had expected Germany to be hit by the bloc’s waning...