Fears that the United Kingdom would fall into a triple-dip recession eased today, as the country avoided another quarter of economic contraction. GDP data confirmed that the country’s economy did in fact grow, if very slowly, at the beginning of this year:

During the first quarter of this year the country recorded an increase of three-tenths of a percent in gross domestic product, compared with the previous three-month period when it contracted by a similar amount, the Office for National Statistics said. Gross domestic product had been broadly flat over the last 18 months, the agency added.

The growth was driven in large part by an increase in output form the service sector, which grew by 0.6 percent, and from mining and quarrying, which increased by 3.2 percent. These increases were offset by a 2.5 percent decline in construction.

But the jump in growth was also aided by a slight change in policy focus away from deficit reduction. As the country’s leaders have slowed the drive toward austerity, the public sector began to grow instead of shrink. In the first quarter of the year, that sector grew by 0.5 percent, compared to a 0.9 contraction the quarter before, adding 0.1 percent to overall GDP growth.

This news contrasts sharply with figures out of Spain today, a country still struggling with the demand for austerity. The country continues to experience a recession, now for seven consecutive quarters. Its unemployment figure has climbed above 27 percent, a number it hasn’t experienced since 1976, the year its dictator Francisco Franco died. The public sector in Spain has increased firings in education and health to reduce deficits, causing employment in those sectors to fall to 2.85 million from 2.92 million at the end of last year. Private sector employment also fell from 13.9 million to 13.6 million.

Spain’s prime minister is looking to convince investors and other European Union countries to ease its deficit targets next month. He may find a friendly ear, as a top EU official recently indicated that he’s in favor of shifting the focus away from austerity and giving countries more time to reduce their deficits, and the EU’s economic and monetary affairs commissioner has voiced a similar opinion.

Austerity policies meant to turn around the European economy and reduce the debts and deficits of countries like Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Greece continue to have the opposite effect. The continent’s economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter in the three months leading up to September, officially pushing the European economy back into recession. The 0.1 percent contraction marked the fourth consecutive quarter that the European economy either shrank or experienced no growth.

Protesters filled streets in Lisbon, Madrid, Rome, and Athens this week, as austerity policies in all four countries have driven up unemployment and led to social service cuts, while failing to address the economic crisis. The protests have taken a violent turn recently, with protesters setting fire to urban streets and riot police firing back on them. 140 were arrested in Spain, where the unemployment rate has jumped above 25 percent. The economies of other struggling countries also continue to decline:

Portuguese unemployment jumped to a record 15.8 percent while in Spain, one in four of the workforce is jobless.

Greece’s economic output shrank 7.2 percent on an annual basis in the third quarter as the debt-laden country staggers towards its sixth year of depression.

Close to 26 million people are unemployed in the European Union while governments cut spending.

A study recently found that rather than increasing growth and reducing debt, austerity was driving down economic growth and increasing debt levels. Others have shown that austerity has put 116 million Europeans at risk of falling into poverty.

The United States has fared better, largely because it embraced stimulative economic policies instead of rampant budget cutting. But the U.S. is now at risk of following a similar path, as the so-called “fiscal cliff” policies that will slash spending would inflict an even larger austerity package on the American economy than any European country has pursued. This week, 350 economists called on Congress to avoid budget cuts and instead focus on investments into infrastructure and education that would stimulate growth and create jobs.

According to the latest data from its government, Spain’s economy contracted for the fifth straight quarter during the three months ending in September. Despite this, Spain seems intent on doubling down on austerity measures, as Reuters reported:

Gross domestic product shrank for the fifth straight quarter between July and September, dropping 0.3 percent, while consumer prices rose by 3.5 percent year-on-year in October, the two sets of National Statistics Institute data showed.

Elected just under a year ago on an austerity ticket, [Prime Minister Mariano] Rajoy has signed off on a belt-tightening programme worth over 60 billion euros through to the end 2014 to cut the public deficit.

Spain, like most of the rest of Europe, has seen its growth stall as austerity measures have kicked in. Several European countries are facing recessions, or even depressions, due to misguided fiscal contraction amidst sky-high unemployment. And the countries that have done the most belt-tightening have seen the least growth.

U.S. conservatives continually claim that all the U.S. needs to do in order to boost its slow economic recovery is cut spending and reduce the nation’s debt. But Spain exemplifies how that approach can backfire. Not only has it been cutting spending since the financial crisis, but it ran budget surpluses before the crisis, having a lower public debt than Germany. Those surpluses didn’t protect it from its current catastrophe:

Now, Spain is facing 25 percent unemployment.

The U.S. is doing better than Europe because, among other factors, it didn’t go straight for austerity (and it has an independent central bank that could use stimulative monetary policy). However, the so-called “fiscal cliff” that is due to take effect at the end of the year would cause a more severe fiscal contraction than most of Europe has experienced.