Amsterdam - The Dutch economy is no longer in recession, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported Friday.

The CBS said the economy in the third quarter had increased 0.4 percent - ending four consecutive quarters of negative growth.

However, compared with the third quarter of 2008, the economy shrank 3.7 per cent.

The volume of export of products and services also continued to fall substantially.

Consumer spending fell 2.6 per cent in the third quarter.

Government expenditures increased 3.6 per cent compared with the same quarter last year, remained the only expenditure category to grow.

The number of job vacancies dropped 1.8 per cent in the past three months. (dpa)