Germany slides into recession!
BERLIN, Germany - November 13, 2008
- Germany officially slid into recession today, according to economic data
showing that Europe’s largest economy shrank in the last quarter.
The Federal Statistics Office said its gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.5% in the third quarter, following a 0.4% drop in the second quarter, which corresponds to the official definition of a technical recession - two consecutive reductions in GDP.
The third-quarter contraction was much worse than expected. Analysts had predicted around 0.1%, but the slump in world trade has hit Germany, the world's leading exporter, more severely than expected.
Germany is the second eurozone country to fall into recession - its first in five years. Ireland’s economy contracted during the first half of the year.
"The downturn is stronger than we expected. The essential message is: we've got it black on white, the recession is here," Sebastian Wanke, economist at DekaBank told Der Spiegel.
