New figures show that economic growth in the euro zone ground to a halt in the last quarter of 2009, though a new survey of business activity in March gave a brighter picture of economic conditions.
In an earlier estimate, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said the euro zone economy had expanded by 0.1% compared with the third quarter. But this morning, it revised the figures to show no growth in the quarter.
For the whole of 2009, the euro zone economy shrank by 2.2%, more than the previously estimated 2.1%.
The numbers turned out weaker than expected mainly because the recession in Italy was deeper than previously thought. The economy there shrank 0.3% rather than 0.2%.
Only exports and inventory growth prevented the euro zone from slipping back into negative growth as the contribution to the quarterly figure from government and household consumption was zero, and investment subtracted 0.3 percentage points.
Separately, Eurostat said prices at factory gates in the euro zone rose 0.1% in February, giving an annual drop of 0.5%.
Broad rise in euro business activity
Separate figures show that private sector business activity across the euro zone climbed in March, with the largest increase since August 2007.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the 16 euro countries, compiled by research group Markit, jumped to 55.9 points from 53.7 in February. This was up slightly from an initial estimate on March 24. Any score above 50 indicates economic growth.
New orders also rose sharply, growing at the fastest rate since April 2006. Germany, France, Italy and Spain all recorded a boost in manufacturing activity, raising hopes for a sustained recovery.
Only the services sector in Ireland and manufacturing in Greece, where the economic crisis has deepened, reported contractions in the month of March, Markit said.
Meanwhile, provisional figures from Germany's economy ministry showed that manufacturing orders were stable in February. Economists had expected a slight decline after a rise in January.
The ministry revised the surprise jump in January even higher, meanwhile, to 5.1% from an initial estimate of 4.3%.
