fresh pressure as the italian economy has it into its first recession since 2008 -- prime minister matteo renzi that reading is a cold shower for hopes of a strong euro zone recovery. we take a closer look at the figures. >> a predicament that italy surely wanted to avoid, but after contracting for two orders in a row the eurozone's third-largest economy is back in recession, signaling bad news for italian industry. >> we have a decline in industrial production, in gdp and consumer prices. commerce and shops are closing all the time. it is continuous. >> it's the third time italy's economy dropped into recession since 2008. at the end of 2013, it briefly came out of recession with figures increasing marginally in the last few months. since that time, gdp has been steadily declining. the latest contraction in gross to mr. product is a blow for the prime minister -- the latest contraction in gross to mystic got up. reform is desperately needed to curb italy's debt burden but progress has been slow amid ongoing political squabbles. the european union's biggest economies, germany, and france are du

. >> it's the end of the honeymoon for italian prime minister matteo renzi. the bad economic news cast a shadow over his ambitious reform agenda aimed at pulling italy out of its worst recession since world war ii. >> we have a decline in industrial production. in gdp as well as consumer prices and commerce. then shops continue to close. >> slight growth at the end of last year gave many hope that italy was on the road to recovery, but after two consecutive quarters of negative growth, the country is now officially back in recession. many analysts had expected the economy to show improvement ahead of wednesday. the news sent shockwaves through the stock exchange here in milan, which ended 2.7% lower. >> let's see how some of the stock markets are reacting to the news of italy's unexpected recession. we have this analysis from the floor of the frankfurt stock exchange. >> investors have been very disappointed of the fact that italy fell back into recession. italy is the third biggest economy in the euro area and a very important market for german exporters. th