Data on Thursday showed that the euro zone economy contracted at a record rate that exceeded expectations in the first three months of the year and inflation slowed sharply as much of the economic activity stopped in March due to the Corona virus pandemic.
According to a preliminary estimate from the European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, the economic output of the 19 countries sharing the euro fell by 3.8 percent between January and March compared with the previous three months — the steepest quarterly decline since the current data series began in 1995.