Italy’s economy contracted for a 5th straight quarter as consumer spending and exports descended , extending the country’s worst recession in 6 decades.

Gross domestic product shrank 0.5 /cent from the 1st Q, when it contracted a revised 2.7 /cent, statistics office Istat said in Rome today in a preliminary report.

The euro-region’s deepest recession since World War II has hurt demand for Italian goods and helped boost the jobless rate to a four-year high, leaving consumers reluctant to spend. The government of Prime Minister has introduced a range of measures, from corporate tax breaks to incentives to trade in old cars, in a bid to drag Italy out of its fourth recession since 2001.

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