Sacrebleu! French economy falls into recession

The French economy has officially entered its third recession in four years after shrinking in the first quarter of 2013, data released today has revealed.

The economy shrunk by 0.2% in the three months to March, having already declined by the same amount the previous quarter. The country already has record unemployment and low business and consumer confidence, prompting some observers to warn its position as a 'core' eurozone nation is becoming increasingly perilous. Meanwhile Germany, which also released economic data today, grew by just 0.1% in Q1, well below the 0.3% growth expected in a poll of economists. Preliminary figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed the German economy had shrunk by 1.4% in total compared to a ye...