Italy falls back into recession

Italy's economy has fallen back into recession, latest official figures show, after contracting for two quarters in a row. GDP, the value of all the country's goods and services, shrank 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of the year. The surprisingly weak number follows a 0.1 per cent contraction in the first quarter. Economists consider two quarters of shrinking GDP means a country is in recession. At the end of last year the country appeared to be emerging from recession, growing fractionally in the last three months. But since then the numbers have been getting worse, according to a news agency.