Slowdown in Q2 eurozone growth confirmed
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 06 Sep 2019
(Sharecast News) - Data released by EU statistics agency Eurostat on Friday confirmed that economic growth in the eurozone eased in the second quarter of the year.
Gross domestic product in the bloc rose 0.2%, down from 0.4% growth in the first quarter and in line with initial estimates.
Exports were flat during the quarter, while imports edged up 0.2%, down from 0.4% growth in the previous quarter. Net exports were a 0.1 percentage point drag on overall growth, partly reversing the 0.2pp boost in the first quarter.
Consumption expenditure rose by 0.2%, which marked a slowdown from 0.4% in the previous quarter.
The year-over-year rate of growth rose by 1.2%, down from 1.3% previously but a touch above the initial estimate of 1.1%.
Meanwhile, other data from Eurostat showed that the number of people employed in the currency bloc rose by 0.2%, down from 0.4% growth in the first quarter. On the year, employment was up 1.2% versus 1.4% previously.
Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "Looking ahead, the spectre of a technical recession in Germany, and still soft growth in Italy, looms over the EZ headline in Q3, but leading indicators- mainly real M1 growth - have turned up slightly and survey data in the services sector also have been resilient.
"In other words, the domestic economic is showing signs of resilience in the face of the crash in manufacturing and weakness in external demand. Construction, however, is now weakening too, adding to the downside risks. The contribution to gross valued added growth from construction slid to zero, the weakest pace since 2014."
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