The eurozone economy tipped into recession at the start of the year according to new figures produced by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency.
The decline marks the second consecutive quarter of contraction, meeting the technical definition of recession. Economists though say the recession is likely to be mild given the continued strength of the labour market.
According to the figures Ireland was the worst performing economy in the EU as a whole, with first quarter output falling 4.6 percent at the start of the year.
Meanwhile the UK economy, or UK PlC if you like, has skirted technical recession so far.
Although with new figures due out soon, it will be interesting to see if the economy stutters - with interest rates rising and mortgage rates biting, domestic demand may well prove the sticking point.
