Israel’s index of leading economic indicators fell 1.2% in January, the biggest monthly drop in at least 34 years
Israel’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2008, for the first time since the 2006 Lebanon war, as exports and consumer spending dropped.
The Central Bureau of Statistics said on its Web site last week that the economy shrunk at a 0.5% annualized pace after growing a revised 0.9% in the previous three months. Israel’s index of leading economic indicators fell a preliminary 1.2% in January, the biggest monthly drop in at least 34 years, signaling that the country is in a recession, the Bank of Israel said on Feb. 19.
World growth will be 0.5% this year, the weakest postwar pace, the International Monetary Fund said Jan. 28.
