Spain on the brink of a new recession

Spain's National Statistics Institute says GDP fell by 0.3 percent during the fourth quarter, edging the country closer to a new recession.

The figure released Monday broke a run of seven quarters without economic contraction. The third quarter of 2011 was flat.

The economy is expected to slide further through March, placing Spain back in its second recession in less than three years. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

The institute said GDP was 0.3 percent during the quarter compared with a year earlier. For all of 2011, it increased 0.7 percent.

Spain has a eurozone-high 22.8 percent unemployment rate. It is struggling to avoid slumping further into a debt crisis that has already seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal needing financial bailouts.