Spain officially in recession
Spain's National Statistics Institute has confirmed that the country was in a recession after the economy shrunk by 1% in the final quarter of 2008.
The fourth-quarter figure followed negative growth of 0.3 per cent in the third quarter. Two successive quarters of negative growth is one common definition of a recession.
The Bank of Spain had issued advance figures announcing the recession late last month.
The latest figures, considered the official ones, differed slightly from the preliminary ones issued by the bank which said economic output fell 1.1% in the last quarter of 2008 and 0.2% in the third quarter.
Spain is the No 4 economy in the euro zone and up until a few years ago, the European Union's top job creator.
It now has the region's highest unemployment at 13.9%.