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Eurozone economic growth loses momentum | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Eurozone economic growth lost momentum in the first three months of 2014, official figures show, with the growth rate unchanged from the previous quarter at 0.2%. | |
That was weaker than many economists had expected. | |
German growth picked up pace, with the economy expanding by 0.8%. | |
But France and Italy disappointed. The French economy failed to grow, while Italy's contracted by 0.1%, having only just emerged from recession last year. | |
Commenting on the eurozone figures, Chris Williamson from the economic research group Markit, said: "Although the economy has now grown for four consecutive quarters, the pace has failed to accelerate to anything other than lacklustre over this period." | |
"The data therefore add to the likelihood of the ECB taking action at its June meeting to inject more stimulus into the economy," he added. | |
'Going backwards' | |
Chiara Corsa, from Italy's UniCredit bank, said about Italy that the number was a very weak result. | |
"It's due to weakness in the industrial sector. We had expected a positive contribution from exports and domestic demand," she said. "Growth has stopped. Even worse, it's going backwards." | |
France's 0% growth rate was put down to weak consumer spending and business investment. | |
Public spending helped to prevent it from contracting. | |
France's statistics agency, INSEE, said that GDP had "levelled off after a small increase" in the last three months of 2013, when the economy grew by 0.2%. | |
Mild weather | |
It said that "total domestic demand dropped and contributed negatively to activity". | |
The statement added that expenditure on food products fell, in particular on tobacco, after the price increase in January. | |
In Germany, the statistics agency, Destatis, said the mild weather also helped the stronger growth. | |
"Private households and the government increased spending at the start of the year," the statement said. | "Private households and the government increased spending at the start of the year," the statement said. |
"The trend in investment was also positive, with a sharp increase in investment in both construction and equipment," it added. | "The trend in investment was also positive, with a sharp increase in investment in both construction and equipment," it added. |