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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| French economy falls into recession | French economy falls into recession |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The French economy has entered recession after shrinking by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year. | The French economy has entered recession after shrinking by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year. |
| France's economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. | |
| France has record unemployment and low business and consumer confidence. | France has record unemployment and low business and consumer confidence. |
| German growth figures have also been released, showing its economy, the strongest in the eurozone, grew by just 0.1% in the first quarter of the year. | |
| That was well below the 0.3% growth expected in a poll of economists. | |
| Preliminary figures from the Statistics Office also showed the German economy had shrunk by 1.4%, when compared with a year ago. | |
| A statement said this was partly to do with severe winter weather: "The German economy is only slowly picking up steam. The extreme winter weather played a role in this weak growth." | |
| Earlier this month, the European Commission had warned that France would enter recession this year and said the eurozone's economy would shrink by 0.4% this year. | |
| The European Central Bank cut interest rates at its last meeting to a record low in an attempt to stimulate growth. |