EU suffers record drop in GDP

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

http://euobserver.com/9/28134/?rk=1

"
EU suffers record drop in GDP

ANDREW WILLIS

15.05.2009 @ 17:45 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Union suffered a record fall in
growth during the first quarter of 2009, with the EU's statistics
office, Eurostat, estimating a drop of 2.5 percent of GDP in both the
EU27 and the euro area compared to the previous quarter.

The new figures – released on Friday (15 May) - translate into an
annual fall of 4.4 percent and 4.6 percent for the EU27 and euro area
respectively when compared with the same quarter of 2008.

[  Both the EU27 and euro area registered record falls in growth for
the first quarter of 2009 says Eurostat. (Photo: European Community)
] (je weet wel, die blauwe vlag met ´gele´ Euro´s ... ) :) Niet? Ok:
http://euobserver.com/onm/media/file3/RQHuAg.png

Despite the fact that the financial crisis originally started in the
United States, the North American country faired much better,
registering a fall in growth for the first quarter of 2009 of 1.6
percent, highlighting the extremity of the European position.

Meanwhile, though there may be tentative signs that the global economy
may be bottoming out, the employment situation looks set to worsen in
the EU this year.

European trade unions are holding rallies across the region over a
three-day period (Thursday–Saturday) in protest at the increasing job
losses that show no sign of abating.

Marches are set to take place in Brussels, Prague, Berlin, and Madrid,
with organisers hoping to mobilise at least 200,000 people.

On Thursday, British Telecom announced it intends to shed another
15,000 jobs as it struggles to deal with the crisis.

Eurostat said euro area inflation remained at 0.6 percent for the
month of April, marking no change from the month before.

The European Commission does not predict the economy will suffer from
deflation this year, although some individual member states may record
months of negative inflation.

The EU executive says these will not be sustained however.
"

Zolang we maar *voor* een sterk Europa zijn, toch?

Henk Elegeert

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