Israel economy shrinks 0.4 pct in third quarter


Israel's economy contracted for the first time in more than five years in the third quarter, as growth was hit by the effects of a military attacks in Gaza. Gross domestic product fell 0.4 percent in the July-September period, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday. It was the first quarterly decline since a 0.2 percent drop in the first three months of 2009, at the outset of the global financial crisis. Growth for all of 2014 is projected at 2.2 percent, with Israel's 50-day operation in July and August having shaved off about half a percentage point. Third-quarter GDP was forecast to have dipped 0.1 percent, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.