INQUIRER Global Nation

ROME?Italy's economy shrank 0.5 percent in the third quarter, putting the country in recession, official data showed Wednesday, confirming figures released in mid-November.

Gross domestic product contracted 0.4 percent in the second quarter, with recession counted as two successive quarters of falling output.

Compared with the third quarter of 2007, GDP contracted 0.9 percent in the same period this year, the national statistics agency ISTAT said.