Don Chichot
/ 83.5.243.* / 2009-04-07 13:45
Gross domestic product in the euro region declined 1.6 percent from the previous three months, the most in at least 13 years, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today, revising a March 5 estimate of a 1.5 percent contraction. Investment plunged 4 percent, also more than estimated, and household spending fell 0.3 percent.
The financial crisis is forcing companies from carmaker Volkswagen AG to software maker SAP AG to reduce output and cut jobs. The economy, which grew 0.8 percent in 2008, may shrink 4.1 percent this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has forecast. The European Central Bank is examining possible new non-standard measures to stimulate the economy after cutting interest rates to a record low.
“The big picture remains one of exceptional weakness at the start of the year,” said Dominic Bryant, an economist at BNP Paribas in London. “While private consumption looks to have held up better than first thought, we doubt that it will last now that employment is falling.”