European Economy Stuck In Doldrums For Fifth Quarter

Technically, Europe's not in a recession. In every other sense, it is. The eurozone economy was stagnant last quarter, data released on Tuesday showed. That was better than the contraction consensus expected and it means the bloc doesn't meet the two-quarter definition of a recession. But nobody's under any illusions: Considered as a whole, the euro-area is experiencing unenviable  economic drudgery. Q4 marked the fifth straight quarter during which growth was either moribund or negative.