Czech economy emerges from recession

AFP, Prague

The Czech economy has emerged from recession with a revised 0.1-percent uptick between the first and second quarters of the year, following a long streak of bleak data, official data showed Tuesday.

The economy shed its recession, defined as two or more successive quarterly declines, after contracting by a revised 4.8 percent in the first quarter of this year and by 1.3 percent in the last quarter of2008.

On an annual basis however, the economy contracted by 5.5 percent in the second quarter, the fastest decline since the Czech Republic emerged as an independent state in 1993, the Czech Statistical Office said.

In the first quarter, Czech gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by a revised 4.5 percent.

In August, statisticians announced a 4.9-percent annual contraction and a 0.3-percent growth on a quar terly basis for the second quarter.

The growth between the first two quarters of the year was powered by the manufacturing and building sectors, as well as by increased household consumption, statisticians said.

But the manufacturing industry also pulled GDP down on an annual basis, along with net exports.

Traffic congestion in Britain plunges thanks to recession AFP, 1-ondon

Congestion in Britain has dropped by almost a third in the last two years as motorists struggle through the worst recession in decades, according to research released Monday.

Rising unemployment and fuel prices have all contributed to the fall in traffic on all major motorways and main roads, the report by motoring group AA and road information companyTrafficmaster said.

Cash-strapped commuters have also been car pooling or taking public transport to cut down on costs, while other motorists surveyed said they were now working more often from home, the report said.

"We've been collecting and analysing congestion data for the past 20 years, with all previous years up to 2007 showing the congestion problem growing." said Georgina Read from Trafficmaster.

"However, post credit crunch, the trend has been well and truly broken and we've now witnessed two consecutive years of dramatically falling congestion levels," she said.

WEF ranks US among most economically unstable nations AFP, Geneva

The United States fared badly in a new assessment of world economies, with the financial crisis accentuating its weakness as one of the most economically unstable nations, the World Economic Forum said Tuesday.

In contrast with its overall ranking second only to Switzerland in the WEF's 2009 Global Competitiveness Report, the United States now placed 93rd among the 133 countries in terms of macroeconomic stability.

"The United States has built up large macro-economic imbalances over recent years," said the WEF, which hosts the annual Davos pow-wow of business and political leaders.

"Repeated fiscal deficits have led to burgeoning levels of public indebtedness, which are presently being exacer bated by significant stimulus spending, " it added.

The widening government budget deficit and low national savings rates helped drag the United States down.

The White House has projected that its budget deficit would reach 9.05 trillion dollars for the 2010-2019 period.