Greece is falling back into recession at the worst time possible

As fraught negotiations play out in Europe over a Greek bailout, the country has fallen back into recession.

It couldn’t come at a worse time. The country desperately needs cash not just to avoid defaulting on loans but also to prop up its sagging economy. The modest growth of a few quarters ago would have only just begun to dig Greece out of a deep, deep hole: the recession wiped out more than a quarter of GDP since the first quarter of 2008.

Employment has suffered too…

…as have retail sales, which show how hard domestic consumption has been hit.

Whether Greece will get a lifeline from Germany and the rest of its euro zone creditors remains to be seen, but it needs one, and fast.