ITALY'S economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 in a greater slowdown than expected, official provisional figures showed. Experts had forecast a 0.3 per cent contraction compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) was down 2.3 per cent from a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) said. In May, the statistics agency said the eurozone's third largest economy would shrink by 1.4 per cent this year and grow by 0.7 per cent next year. The country is still suffering from high unemployment levels of around 11 per cent, and the jobless rate is set to rise to a record high of 12.3 per cent in 2014, according to ISTAT.