Any old excuse eh!!! Men are now using the recession as an excuse for ‘playing away’ saying that when they feel threatened they go into survival mode, which boosts their sex drive.

The activation of these ‘short-term mating strategies’ is nature’s way of ensuring the survival of the species by getting men to procreate. Original Source

Despite recent reports that Spain itself was feeling “bullish” about the recession, it seems that expats living in Spain would do well to not get their hopes up and to continue to expect the recession to continue well into 2010.

The Spanish economy is struggling to catch up with the European monetary union.

Although many are warning that Britain is at risk of plunging back into recession based on the remarkably low growth figures (0.1%) compared to an expected 0.4%, the 18 month recession has officially ended and early indications are that it is good news for the travel industry, and therefore one hopes for expats living in Spain hoping to see the tourism related business that so many depend on for their income pick up.

On the same day as the UK announced that it has formely exited the recession, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have confirmed what many have been saying, that Spain will remain in recession throughout 2010, with low growth forecast for 2011.

The worst British recession in almost 90 years came to end in the final three months of 2009 with economic growth of 0.3pc, a think tank has estimated.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) data showed a 4.8pc fall in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2009, Britain’s biggest contraction since 1921.

Describing the downturn as a “depression”, NIESR said that output fell sharply for 12 months until March 2009, “and has not changed very much since then, although evidence of a recovery is starting to emerge.”

The Irish economy saw modest growth in the third quarter of this year.

Figures just released by the government’s statistics agency showed gross domestic product rose by 0.3% compared with the quarter before.

The figure indicates the country has pulled out of what was one of Europe’s worst recessions.

The economy shrank by 7.4% compared with July to September last year, although that is better than the second quarter’s year-on-year fall of 7.9%.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero rejected on Thursday pessimistic forecasts by the Standard and Poor’s ratings agency, which has lowered Spain’s credit rating.

“Let’s be clear. The Spanish treasury is being financed in a completely normal way,” he said, referring to demand for the government’s sovereign debt bonds and the interest it has to pay.

The eurozone has seen consumer prices rise for the first time in seven months, official figures have shown.

Prices rose by 0.6% in the 12 months to November, the European Union’s Eurostat agency said.

That marks a turnaround after five straight months of falling prices in the 16 countries that use the euro.

A positive inflation figure was widely expected by economists, following the eurozone’s emergence from recession earlier this month.

Dubai is bracing itself for more fallout from its financial crisis when the Middle Eastern markets reopen on Monday.

The Emirate’s move to ask for a six-month standstill on its £36bn debt was made at the start of the Eid holidays. Since then all public offices have been closed.

Many of the expatriates living in Dubai are being forced to re-evaluate their dream of living in the land of opportunity.

Spain’s current account deficit halved during the first nine months of the year when compared to the same time last year as imports plunged in the midst of a steep recession, the government said Tuesday.

It reached EUR 37.3 billion at the end of September, down 49.9 percent from the year-ago period as imports dropped 30 percent while exports fell 19.8 percent, the industry ministry said.

Eurozone economic activity rose at its fastest pace in November for two years, according to an influential survey.

The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) figure rose to 53.7, up from 53 in the previous month, confirming the bloc’s recent economic recovery.

The growth was driven by manufacturing output, which scored 54.6, its fastest growth since September 2007.

Figures released earlier this month showed that the eurozone emerged from recession between July and September.

The pace of Spain’s economic contraction eased in the third quarter as a deterioration in domestic demand slowed, official data showed on Wednesday, contrasting with a return to growth in the rest of the eurozone during the period.

Spanish gross domestic product fell 0.3 percent from a quarter earlier, its fifth straight quarterly decline, and was down 4.0 percent from a year earlier, according to final figures from the national statistics institute.

Europe’s deepest recession since World War II officially ended on Friday when the world’s biggest trading bloc joined Japan and the United States in returning to growth.

Both the 16-nation eurozone and the 27-nation European Union as a whole, home to half a billion people, posted economic expansion — of 0.4 percent in the single currency area and 0.2 for the whole EU in the third quarter.

Spain’s economy contracted in the third quarter, although at a slower pace than in previous quarters, official data showed Thursday, contrasting with a return to growth elsewhere in Europe.

Gross domestic product declined 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, its fifth straight quarterly contraction, and was down 4.0 percent from a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute said in preliminary figures.

The number of people unemployed in the UK rose again in the three months to September, although the 30,000 increase was the smallest since May 2008.

Unemployment totalled 2.46 million in the quarter, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The jobless rate remained at 7.8%.

However, the youth unemployment rate rose to 19.8%, a record high.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose by 12,900 to 1.64 million in October.

New car sales rose strongly for the second straight month in October as a government incentive programme which was extended last month into 2010 spurred sales, industry data showed Monday.

A total of 98,202 cars were registered during the month, up from 77,686 in October 2008, a 26.4 percent increase, Spanish car manufacturers’ association ANFAC said in a statement.

New car registrations leapt 18 percent in September on a 12-month basis, their first increase since April 2008.

The rise is however half the amount seen in the same month last year

Unemployment in Spain rose by 98,906 in October in what was the third consecutive monthly increase.
It takes the number out of work, according to the Ministry for Employment, to 3,808,353. Male unemployment was up by 2.8%, while female was up by 2.4%, and all sections of the economy saw an increase, led by the services sector which saw 62,447 join the dole queues.

Unemployment levels across the 16 countries that use the euro rose to 9.7% in September, the highest rate since January 1999.

This brought the number of people unemployed across the eurozone region to 15.3 million.

The rate across all 27 members of the European Union rose to 9.2%, with 286,000 more people now jobless.

This brings the total to 22.12 million.

Spain has the highest eurozone unemployment rate at 19.3%.

The economy shrank 0.4 percent between July and September from the previous three months, its sixth straight quarterly decline, and by 4.1 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in an initial estimate.

“The indicators relative to the third quarter confirm the tendency towards a slowdown in the contraction of (economic) activity,” the central bank reported.

The national statistics institute will publish its preliminary third-quarter GDP figures on November 12.

Bank lending to companies operating in the eurozone fell in September for the first time on record, according to the European Central Bank.

Lending fell at an annual rate of 0.3%, compared with a modest annual growth of 0.1% in August.

The fall comes at a time when European governments are pumping money into their economies to try to lift lending.

The worry is that weak lending from banks will hinder any recovery in the eurozone economy.