Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The world economy is likely to shrink this year for the first time in six decades.

The International Monetary Fund projects a 1.3% drop in a dour new forecast. That could leave at least 10 million more people around the world jobless, some private economists say.

The IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook, says: "By any measure, this downturn represents by far the deepest global recession since the Great Depression."

The new forecast of a decline in global economic activity for 2009 is much weaker than the 0.5% growth the IMF had estimated in January.