Spanish recession bites, may be prolonged

Spain officially slipped in to recession in the first quarter, final figures confirmed on Thursday, leaving the country threatened with a prolonged slump as the turmoil-wracked euro zone struggles to balance ...

The EU has accused Spain of overstating its 2011 budget deficit thus making it easier to make progress in 2012. Furthermore the EU is upset about delays in austerity measures ahead of regional elections next month.

MADRID, APRIL 30 - Spa

Reuters reports Eurozone Unemployment Reaches Near 15-Year High Unemployment in the euro zone reached its highest level in almost 15 years in February, with more than 17 million people out of work, and economists said they expected job office queues to grow even longer later this year.

MADRID (Reuters) - More than six million Spaniards were out of work in the first quarter of this year, raising the jobless rate in the euro zone's fourth biggest economy to 27.2 percent, the highest since records began in the 1970s. The huge sums poured into the global financial system by major central banks have eased bond market pressure on Spain, but the cuts Madrid has made in spending to regain investors' confidence have left it deep in recession.

MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish economy shrank for the first time in two years in the fourth quarter, the start of what economists fear could be a prolonged slump as Madrid implements harsh austerity measures to deflate a massive budget deficit.