Euro area falls into technical recession in Q1
The euro area fell into a technical recession in the first quarter of this year, according to figures from Eurostat.
However, across the EU as a whole, growth remained positive at 0.1% compared to the last three months of last year.
Euro area GDP growth fell by 0.1% in the first three months of this year which followed another decrease of 0.1% in the last quarter of last year.
However, growth in the first three months of this year is still up 1% compared to the same period in 2022.
The fall in Irish GDP in the first quarter of 4.6%, due to a downturn in production in the pharmaceutical sector, was the biggest decrease in the euro area.
GDP is not considered to be a reliable indicator of economic activity in Ireland as it captures a lot of the volatility in the multinational sector.
An alternative indicator, Modified Domestic Demand, rose by 2.7% in the first three months of this year.
However, Eurostat use the GDP measure for collecting EU-wide data.
Other indicators out today show employment growth increasing by 0.6% in the euro area in the first quarter. Employment is also up 1.6% compared to the same period last year.
Compared to pre-Covid pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2019, there are 5 million more people at work across the euro area.
Ireland had the third biggest growth in employment in the euro area in the first quarter of 2023.
Article Source – Euro area falls into technical recession in Q1 – RTE