In Greece, Economic Data Points to Historic Recession

The country's sovereign debt crisis has cut GDP by a sixth and led to a fifth of the population being unemployed.

Economic indicators in the U.S. keep showing signs of a rebound, as reports out today declare that the number of jobless claims in January was the lowest it's been since March 2008. Over in Greece, though, things just keep getting worse. The Atlantic wonders if Greece is on pace for the worst recession of the past 30 years, pointing to a slew of data that suggest the country just might be. Among the indicators:

• Greece's gross domestic product shrank seven per cent in 2011, meaning that since 2006, the economy has shrank by a sixth;

• Unemployment stands at 20 per cent, and an austerity plan that just passed through the Greek parliament will mean more job cuts in the public sector;

• Youth unemployment has hit an astronomical 47 per cent;

• Domestic consumption has fallen 15 per cent;

• Government spending has been slashed by 34 per cent since 2006.

Economists predict that Greece's GDP could end up being 30 to 25 per cent less than its 2006 peak before long. This means that, with the exception of the recession in Russia in the 1990s (when the economy shrank 44 per cent), Greece could soon bear the distinction of having suffered the worst recession of any developed country in the past three decades, surpassing Argentina (20 per cent contraction at the time of default in 2001) and Latvia (20 per cent contraction between 2008 and 2011).