The social impact of the crisis - Background paper

While there has been some recovery since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009, both output and employment levels remain lower than they were pre-crisis in the EU-27. Indeed, the severity of the recession has been such that output has yet to return to 2007 levels in each of the largest Member States, even in those like Germany where recovery has been most stable. Moreover, growth forecasts have been revised downwards throughout 2011 signalling the weakness of the recovery and the presence of negative global economic and financial risks. Most recently, on 21 September 2011, the IMF revised growth forecasts downwards throughout the developed world.