Bank of Spain Sees Worsening Recession, Unemployment

Oh, joy

Spain will sink deeper into recession and unemployment will worsen this year as the country struggles under the weight of austerity measures taken to repair public finances and the effects of a weak global economy, the central bank said Tuesday.

The Bank of Spain said it expected the economy to contract 1.5 percent this year, compared with 1.4 percent in 2012, and only return to growth in late 2014.

The conservative government had predicted a 0.5 percent contraction for this year although Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was pushed to admit last week that he would have to revise forecasts in April.