MOSCOW, June 10 (RIA Novosti) – Eurozone recession is lingering and Europe’s unemployment rate is rising amid a slow global economic recovery, Russia’s Economic Development Ministry said in a monitoring report on Monday.
Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said in late May that recession could hit Russia only if recession developed in the global economy and negative trends remained in the eurozone.
“The macroeconomic picture for the week [from May 31 to June 6] has not shown any significant changes in the world economy’s key trends in 2013. However, some signs show that the global economic recovery is becoming less stable as the world’s recognized growth drivers – the US and China – are weakening,” the report said.
The latest estimates show that the eurozone’s GDP fell by 0.2 percent in the first three months of this year, quarter on quarter, and by 0.1 percent in the 27 countries of the European Union.
“This corresponds to the primary assessment: Recession is lingering, although weakening,” the report said.
The tense unemployment situation in the eurozone continues to deteriorate, with the unemployment rate reaching 12.2 percent in April. Eurozone retail sales fell by 0.5 percent in April, after a 0.1 percent decline in March. The fastest fall in sales was registered in Finland (3.6 percent), the UK (2 percent), France (0.9 percent), Ireland (0.8 percent) and Germany (0.4 percent), the report said.
“The US [economic] indicators are also becoming less stable, which should allay financial markets’ fears that the Federal Reserve would tighten its monetary policy,” the report said.
