French economy returns to recession
Baku, June 21 (AZERTAC). France has entered its second recession in four years after the economy shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year, official figures show.
Its economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012.
President Francois Hollande has said he expects zero growth in 2013, lower than a 0.1% growth forecast by the French government.
Separate figures showed that the recession across the 17-nation eurozone has continued into a sixth quarter.
A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
The economy of the 17-nation bloc shrank by 0.2% in the January to March period, according to the EU's statistics office Eurostat, with nine of its members now in recession.
Germany's economy, generally considered to be the eurozone's strongest, grew by just 0.1% in the quarter.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates at its last meeting to a record low of 0.5% in an attempt to stimulate growth.
France has record unemployment, and low business and consumer confidence.
News of the latest recession in France, which is Europe's second-largest economy, comes on the first anniversary of Francois Hollande being sworn in as president.
The French unemployment rate is running at 10.6% and is forecast to rise further next year.
Its budget deficit is also expected to remain well above the EU target of 3% of GDP, with the commission estimating it will be 3.9% this year.
But France's unemployment rate is below the eurozone average, which was 11.4% in 2012 and is expected to hit an average of 12.2% this year. In both Greece and Spain the rate stands at about 27%.
France this week passed a range of measures aimed at stopping the rise in unemployment by reforming the country's labour laws.
These include measures to make it easier for workers to change jobs and for companies to fire employees.
The French economy has performed better than other eurozone members, including Spain and Italy, but it has not moved as quickly to reform its economy.
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