Spain emerges from two-year recession with 0.1% growth

Spain finally emerged from recession in the first quarter of 2010, following nearly two years of negative growth.

The country’s GDP grew 0.1% in the first three months of 2010, the Bank of Spain estimates, compared to a contraction of 1.3% a year earlier. However, the country has taken six months longer than the rest of the eurozone to come out of recession, and its economy remains under pressure. The eurozone as a whole officially exited recession during the Q3 of 2009, according to Eurostat. Figures for Q1 show Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone at 20.5%, which represents a doubling of the jobless rate since 2008. Meanwhile, at 11.2% of GDP, Spain’s deficit was the thi...