STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's business news starts with Europe's deepening recession.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: New numbers out this morning show that Europe's major economies continued to sink in the first three months of this year. France's economic output fell 1.2 percent. Germany took the biggest hit, a 3.8 percent drop in GDP, which is not as bad as some drops we've seen in the United States but serious enough. Some say it's the worst drop in post-war history. One of the reasons Germany is being hit so hard is that the economy is dependent on exports, which are tumbling around the world.
New numbers indicate Europe's major economies continued to sink in the first three months of the year. The economy in the 16 countries that use the euro shrank by a massive 2.5 percent in the first quarter. The euro zone has now seen output decline for four consecutive quarters.