by Calculated Risk on 6/06/2013 05:54:00 PM

From Jack Ewing at the NY Times: Down So Long It Looks Like Up to the Euro Zone

This is what passes for good economic news in Europe: Spain just added 265 jobs. ... Never mind that nearly five million people in Spain are out of work. The latest unemployment report from the government, issued on Tuesday, was held up by Mr. Rajoy as a sign that maybe, just maybe, the economy is getting better.

Nearly six years after the financial crisis in the United States spread across the Atlantic, plunging Europe into recession and, in some places, desperate depression, “good” is relative. ...

During a visit to Athens last week, the Dutch finance minister said he detected “the first signal of a turn in the economy.” Then, on Wednesday, news arrived from Brussels that the Greek economy was indeed getting better. It shrank by only — only — 5.3 percent in the first three months of the year. That was in fact an improvement: it had contracted 5.7 percent the previous quarter.

Eventually the euro zone will start growing again. The will not be a sign of "success" of current policies - these are already a clear failure given the severe pain and suffering in the interim.