Colombia's government said that the South American nation is now officially in recession, its economy having shrunk 0.6 percent in the first quarter, according to AP. The state statistics agency DANE says manufacturing suffered the greatest blow _ a 7.9 percent drop compared to the first quarter of 2008. Colombia's national manufacturing association, ANDI, said Thursday it believes the worst of the recession has passed. Colombia joins most of South America as officially in recession after a second consecutive quarterly drop in gross national product. The country's chief export is oil. DANE reported negative 1 percent growth for the last quarter of 2008. This is Colombia's first recession since 1999.
