MADRID: The Spanish economy posted its second straight quarter of growth in the last three months of 2013, the Bank of Spain estimated on Thursday, confirming the country's exit from a crippling recession.
Growth reached 0.3 percent in the last quarter of 2013, after already expanding 0.1 percent in the third quarter.
However, for the full year, the economy shrank by 1.2 percent.
The figures confirmed that the economy is growing but too slowly to create jobs since the unemployment rate turned up at the end of the year to 26.03 percent.
The central bank said in its monthly report: "In 2013, the Spanish economy followed a path of gradual improvement", after a recession which had crippled activity since the beginning of 2011, the second downturn in five years.
The bank said that it saw tentative signs that internal demand was picking up and a slight rise of demand from abroad.
Its estimate that the economy shrank by 1.2 percent last year is slightly better than the forecast from the government which expects contraction of 1.3 percent.
The government is counting on growth of 0.7 percent in 2014 but analysts warn that this would not be enough to create jobs.
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