Spain officially entered into recession.

The Spanish economy in the fourth quarter of 2008 came to the stage of a recession. That was reported by AFP, referring to official statistics. Technical recession is called a decline in GDP over two quarters in succession.
In the fourth quarter of the GDP of Spain fell by one percent compared with the three previous months. And in the third quarter decline in GDP was 0.2 percent. A recession occurred in Spain for the first time in 15 years.
Earlier, it was reported that Spain did not prevent a recession. In January 2009, Central Bank country stated that the country's economy in the fourth quarter decreased by 1.1 per cent. Official figures were better than the CB, but a recession is still not able to escape.
One of the main tasks of the Government of Spain in a crisis is to fight unemployment. In the last quarter of 2008, unemployment in the country reached 13.9 percent, which is the maximum in the EU. Local officials expect that for the year this figure will rise to 15.9 percent.
The economy of Spain is the fifth largest in Europe. Prior to that, many EU countries have already announced that their economies shrinking for two or more quarters. In particular, the recession is registered in Germany, Great Britain, Sweden and many other countries. One of the few countries that managed to avoid a recession, is France. However, it is likely to enter into a technical recession in 2009.
The decline in GDP in Europe is caused by the global economic crisis, which were initially developed and then a developing country. According to the European Commission, in 2009 the local economy to shrink by 1.9 percent.