Southern Italy lost 600,000 jobs since start of recession

ROME, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Italy's economic crisis has caused the country's southern region to lose about 600,000 jobs and $60 billion from its gross domestic product, officials say.

The figures on southern Italy's economy were released by the industrial employers' association Confindustria on Friday, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

The decline in the region's GDP has slowed and business is starting to show signs of recovery, Confindustria said.

Nationally, Italy's GDP remained constant this year after two years of negative growth, data from the national statistics office Istat indicated.