Spanish recession eases
February 16, 2013
Compared with a decline of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013, Spain's recession-hit economy contracted by just 0.1 percent between April and June, according to data released by the Spanish statistics office INE on Tuesday.
The drop in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) was narrowed by rising external demand for Spanish goods and services which helped partially compensate for further weakening domestic demand in the quarter, INE said.
Nevertheless, the second-quarter result suggested that Spain might see the end of its prolonged economic slump this summer, said Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Output of Europe's fourth largest economy has been shrinking for eight consecutive quarters, after a decade-long real estate boom collapsed at the end of 2008. A recovery appears imminent in light of a slowdown in the pace of decline from 0.8 percent in the final quarter of 2012, and 0.5 percent at the beginning of this year to just 0.1 percent now.
Quarterly unemployment figures also fell this year, from 27.16 percent to 26.2 percent, INE data showed, with seasonal tourism accounting for most of the drop.
In related news, the European Commission's closely-watched business confidence barometer, released on Tuesday, supported the upward trend for Spain.
The EU executive's Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for Spain rose 1.2 points, which was largely in line with improving sentiments for the bloc's other major economic powers Germany, France and Italy.
Across the crisis-hit 18-nation eurozone, economic confidence increased for a third consecutive month in July rising from 91.3 points in June to 92.5 points this month.
uhe/ccp (AP, dpa, AFP)