US economy shrinks only one percent in second quarter, Economists optimistic

September 25th, 2009 PARIS - France emerged from recession in the second quarter of 2009 as its GDP rose by 0.3 percent, the government's statistics office INSEE announced Friday. The economic expansion followed four consecutive quarters of contraction for the French economy, caught up in the global economic crisis.

August 31st, 2009 Canada's economy shrinks 3.4 percentTORONTO — The Canadian economy contracted at a 3.4 percent annual pace in the second quarter, an improvement from the first three months of the year, the government said Monday. Statistics Canada said the economy actually grew in June, the first monthly increase in almost a year.

August 31st, 2009 Canada's economy shrinks 3.4 percent in 2QTORONTO — The Canadian economy contracted at a 3.4 percent annual pace in the second quarter, an improvement from the first three months of the year, the government said Monday. Statistics Canada said the economy actually grew in June, the first monthly increase in almost a year.

August 27th, 2009 Summary Box: Economists encouraged by GDP activityECONOMY SHRINKS: The gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, dropped at an annual rate of 1 percent in the April-June quarter. The number of newly laid-off workers filing for unemployment benefits dropped slightly to 570,000 last week.

August 13th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Europe's economy remained stuck in recession, with second quarter figures out Thursday showing gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 0.3 percent in the European Union and by 0.1 percent in the eurozone on the quarter. The flash estimates by the European statistical office Eurostat dashed hopes of an earlier-than-expected recovery after two of the EU's biggest economies - Germany and France - posted positive GDP figures.

July 31st, 2009 Stocks mostly rise as GDP shrinks at slower paceNEW YORK — Traders used good news about the economy Friday to give the Dow Jones industrials their best July in 20 years. Stocks closed mostly higher Friday after the government said the economy shrank at a slower pace than expected in the April-June quarter.

July 27th, 2009 Ace Limited profit shrinks, but tops forecastBOSTON — Property and casualty insurer ACE Ltd. said Monday its second-quarter profit fell 28 percent on a decline in sales of insurance policies and reduced investment income.

July 24th, 2009 UK Q2 GDP down 0.8 percentLONDON — Official data shows Britain's economy shrank by 0.8 percent in the second quarter, the fifth straight quarterly decline and worse than analyst forecasts of a drop of 0.3 percent. The figure released Friday is a marked improvement over the 2.4 percent decline in the first quarter but confirms that the economy is still in recession.

June 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US economy shrank 5.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009, according to a final estimate by the US commerce department Thursday that confirms the worst six-month stretch in five decades. The department's final figure was improved slightly from a previous estimate of a 5.7-percent contraction.

May 13th, 2009 Euro zone industrial output shrinks 2 pct in MarchLONDON — The 16 countries that use the euro currency saw industrial output shrink by 2 percent in March from the previous month, pushing the annual rate of decline to a new record, the EU's statistics office said Wednesday. The drop was far bigger than expected.

May 1st, 2009 Mexico: Economy down near 7 percent in 1st quarterMEXICO CITY — Mexico says its economy shrank nearly 7.0 percent in the first quarter from the previous year, as manufacturing exports plunged 22.8 percent. Mexico's Treasury Department says the drop "is due to the deterioration of global economic conditions." It says the country lost 372,289 jobs during the quarter.

April 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US economy contracted at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the first three months of 2009, the US Commerce Department said in its initial estimate Wednesday. That follows a 6.3-percent contraction in the final quarter of 2008 as the US battles through its worst recession in decades.

April 24th, 2009 SKorean economy shrinks 4.3 percent in 1st quarterSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's economy contracted 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from the same period last year, as manufacturing and exports slumped amid the global downturn, the Bank of Korea announced Friday. That marks the second straight quarter that South Korea's economy grew smaller.

March 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US economy shrank by 6.3 percent in the final quarter of 2008, according to an adjusted figure released Thursday by the US Commerce Department. The figure is only slightly larger than the annualized 6.2 percent initially estimated last month, but remains the worst fourth-quarter showing by the country since the recession of 1982.

February 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The growth of India's gross domestic product (GDP) dropped to 5.3 percent in the third quarter ending Dec 31 last year, compared to a growth of 8.9 percent in the same period the previous year. The economy, usually equated to the GDP, had grown by 7.6 percent in the second quarter of this fiscal.