Eurozone recession coming to close
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: Earlier today, the European Commission predicted the recession in the E.U. and the Eurozone will end in the third quarter of this year. And that is about as sunny as the outlook got. Christopher Werth reports now from London.
Christopher Werth: The E.U. now sees itself growing by two-tenths of a percent in the third quarter. That’s up from negative three-tenths of a percent, projected earlier this year.
However small, those numbers should be good news for an economy that not long ago was expected to be one of the worst hit from the recession.
But to paraphrase the E.U.’s report: uncertainty over the recovery remains rife. Rising public deficits and the end of programs like wage subsidies in Germany could derail economic growth.
Jennifer McKeowen is with Capital Economics:
Jennifer McKeowen: So far at least, these German measures seem to be having a positive impact. The German labor market has held up very well. But it might just be that as those subsidies expire we start to see unemployment rising more rapidly.
The more positive outlook won’t change overall projections. A bad start to 2009 means that GDP will fall by 4 percent this year.
In London, I’m Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
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