Spain's service sector shrinks, consumers lose heart | Reuters

Spain's service sector shrinks, consumers lose heart | Reuters: "Spain's key services sector --
more than 60 percent of the economy -- shrank at its fastest
pace in a year in December when consumer sentiment slid anew,
overshadowing an above-expectation rise in industrial output.
Since Spain's property bubble burst in 2008 unemployment has
soared and increasingly gloomy consumers have abandoned the high
streets and restaurants, hitting the key services sector and
reinforcing worries over the economy's ability to recovery.
'The headline PMI is consistent with stagnant growth. Our
view remains that Spain will fall back into recession this year
and, even if it doesn't, growth will be worse than government
forecasts,' Capital Economics economist Ben May said.
The euro zone debt crisis, which gained pace in November
after Ireland was forced to seek an EU/IMF backed bailout, has
stunted a recovery in the blocs' peripheral countries and
highlighted their disparity with the core economies.


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