Italian economy slides into recession

The Italian economy is officially in recession, government data showed today.

Europe’s fourth-largest economy recorded negative growth for the second consecutive quarter in the third quarter.

The ISTAT statistics office said gross domestic product in the July-September period contracted by 0.5% compared with the previous quarter and by 0.9% compared with the same quarter in 2007.

The economy shrank 0.3% in the second quarter.