Australia said Wed economy shrinks 1.2% in Q1

CANBERRA, Australia: Unprecedented flooding and storms that hit key exports such as coal and iron ore caused Australia's economy to shrink by 1.2 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2010, government data showed Wednesday.

It was the largest quarterly contraction in GDP since 1991, when Australia experienced its last recession. It is also the first time that GDP has fallen since the last quarter of 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.