After a strong first quarter, Europe's economy is in trouble - je 18.08.2008 08

Welcome back... The economic outlook in Europe is looking gloomier than it has in years this Monday. The German Institute for Economic Research publishes its closely-watched economic barometer later today, and most expect bad news. That's after official GDP data released last week showed the Eurozone contracting in the second quarter. Weakest of all was Germany, where the strong recovery of recent years has come to an abrupt end -- dashing hopes that Europe's largest economy would prove resistant to the slowdown. Now worries are increasing that the economy will slip into recession.