What's going on?

Data out on Tuesday showed the eurozone economy shrank by slightly less than economists thought last quarter, but the European Central Bank (ECB) isn�t about to drop its defenses any time soon.

What does this mean?

This data was actually first reported in May, but it�s now been revised for accuracy. Not necessarily for the better, mind you: the eurozone economy was still 3.1% smaller in the first quarter than the same time last year. And compared to the last quarter of 2019, it shrank by 3.6% � its biggest quarterly decline ever.


No prizes for guessing the culprit: the coronavirus pandemic shut down an economy that was already barely growing. And even though the quarter was largely unharmed until March, the effects have reverberated ever since � which is why the European Commission is forecasting the eurozone economy will shrink by almost 8% this year�

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: It�s official! Sort of.

An economy is technically in a recession after two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. But on Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research snubbed the tradition of waiting until an economy is officially in a recession to declare the US economy was, erm, officially in recession. Europe doesn�t need to hear from a bean-counter to know its economy is headed for the same fate: fresh data this month showed the bloc�s manufacturing activity continued to shrink in May.

Zooming out: Sacr� bleu!

The ECB has repeatedly asked eurozone countries to take more responsibility for rescuing their own economies. And the German government did just that last week, announcing a comprehensive support package (including aid for its essential autos industry) after previously agreeing to a $10 billion bailout of airline Lufthansa. France followed suit on Tuesday with the announcement of its�own�$17 billion�bailout � of the country’s aerospace industry � as long as the companies in question commit to certain environmental targets.