Eurozone Economy Has Worst Quarterly Contraction Since GDP Series Started
Posted on 04/30/2020
The Eurostat statistics agency revealed the eurozone economy contracted 3.8% in the first quarter of 2020. This is the worst decline since records were kept in 1995 and some experts think its the worst since the start of the 1970s. The economic impacts are from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, which has locked down people across Europe. The mandated lock downs are slamming economic growth. Most of the economic damage occurred in the final two weeks of the quarter, demonstrating the lock down effect.
France saw gross domestic product decline by -5.8%, Spain by -5.2%, Italy by -4.7%, Belgium by 3.9%, and Austria by -2.5%.
Furthermore, Eurostat reported that unemployment edged up to 7.4% in March 2020, while inflation fell to 0.4% in April 2020 from 0.7% in March 2020.
ECB
The European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep its main interest rates unchanged on April 30, 2020.
