Leaving the “worst recession” since the 1930s

Published on 13 August 2013 at 11:16

The eurozone looks to be climbing out of its “worst peacetime economic upheaval since the Great Depression”, writes The Financial Times after reviewing data, to be released August 14, that show the bloc’s economy expanded 0.2 percent in the second quarter of this year.

Citing a number of economic analysts on manufacturing output, unemployment, business sentiment, corporate loans and public finances, the financial daily nonetheless underlines the “fragile nature” of the recovery, and “persistent divergence between member countries”:

In the periphery, governments are struggling to balance austerity measures with encouraging growth while the region’s locomotive, Germany, has steady but uninspiring expansion.

Even the most tentative hopes are underscored by recurring problems. Despite the manufacturing sector expanding “for the first time in two years last month” and business confidence “growing steadily since May”, for example, unemployment remained steady at a record high of 12.1 per cent in June. The daily cites fears among policymakers that Europe “will undergo a ‘jobless recovery’, where executives postpone hiring workers to keep costs low”.

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