Faster Virus, Slower Growth Makes for 4.1% Euro-Area Contraction in the First Quarter

(Bloomberg) -- Under pessimistic assumptions on the duration of new lockdown restrictions to contain the spread of Covid-19, Bloomberg Economics lowered its first-quarter estimate for the euro-area economy to a 4.1% contraction, after a 1.5% drop in the final three months of 2020. That will mark the second technical recession in the region as a result of the pandemic. But as inoculations gather pace and allow restrictions to be eased, BE forecasts growth of 4.8% in the second quarter and 3.1% in the third.