Spain Recession Deepened Slightly in 1Q - Bank of Spain

    By Art Patnaude

    MADRID--Spain's central bank said Tuesday the recession in the euro zone's fourth-largest economy deepened slightly in the first quarter, with the economy contracting 2% on the year, but it added that the pace had slowed since the end of last year.

    In the first official estimate of first-quarter economic performance, the Bank of Spain said the economy likely contracted 0.5% from the previous quarter.

    In the fourth quarter, the economy shrank 0.8% from the previous quarter, and 1.9% on an annual basis.

    The central bank said that inflation started on downward path in the first three months of 2013, following slowing energy price increases. The consumer price index rose 2.4% on the year in March, compared with a rise of 2.9% in December, the central bank said.

    Initiatives launched by the Spanish government during the first quarter were expected to help stimulate job creation, it added. This comes at a time when over a quarter of the population remains unemployed.

    The National Statistics Institute, or INE, will release economic figures next Tuesday, in the first such data for the quarter from the Spanish government.

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