If Italy waits until the end of December to review the plus sign, Spain has already said goodbye to the recession. After two years in the red, in the third quarter the gross domestic product of the Iberian country finally recorded a positive, albeit limited, figure: +0,1%. This was confirmed by the official data released today by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
It was mainly exports that pulled Spain out of the recession, while domestic demand continues to stagnate. Ine also communicates that in November the national consumer price index grew by 0,2% on an annual basis, after the 0,1% drop recorded in October. The harmonized EU index rose by 0,3%.
It should be remembered, however, that in October the number of Spanish jobless rose further, reaching 4,81 million people. The unemployment rate, again according to Ine, rose to 25,98%. For the Spanish government, engaged in a policy of rigid austerity, the forecast is for an unemployment rate of 26,6% in 2013 and 25,9% in 2014.
