The US and the eurozone are set to suffer four consecutive quarters of contracting output that will not come to an end until the middle of 2009, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The OECD, which only a few months ago forecast that most eurozone area economies would experience flat growth in the second half of this year – and that the UK would experience a mild technical recession – is now forecasting four consecutive quarters of contraction for the US, countries using the euro, and OECD nations as a whole.