LONDON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Recession has spread to Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, according to reports.
Conditions worsened as a strong euro hurt exporters and economic activity stagnated across the 12-nation bloc that shares the euro, the International Herald Tribune reported.
Analysts said that while tentative signs of a rebound in the United States, and European stimulus programs have lifted business and consumer confidence, that optimism has yet to translate into real economic gains.
The German economy, long the European laggard, entered a shallow recession for the second time in as many years.
The weakness spread to Italy, heavily dependent on Germany as an export market, which also slipped into recession in the second quarter, the first in a decade.
The weakest numbers of all came from the Netherlands, where output plunged by 0.5 percent between April and June as consumers pulled back on spending. It was the third straight quarter of economic contraction.
