The Eurozone economy expanded by 0.3% over the second quarter, though Germany returned to negative growth, official data showed on Wednesday.
This was in line with expectations, marked a 0.6% increase on the same period a year ago and echoed growth over the first quarter.
Euro area #employment +0.2% in Q2 2024, +0.8% compared with Q2 2023: flash estimate from #Eurostat https://t.co/rXsEeDnDSB pic.twitter.com/wUmP8Qt8Ti
— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) August 14, 2024
Data from Eurostat confirmed German gross domestic product slightly contracted over the second quarter, however, with Europe’s largest economy facing a 0.1% decline, following a larger contraction and slight uptick in the two previous periods.
Sentiment towards the German economy was said on Tuesday to have declined at the fastest pace in two years over the course of recent weeks.
Research institute ZEW noted Germany’s export-intensive sectors had faced a blow as Chinese and US economic outlooks deteriorated.
Elsewhere in the Euro area, the Spanish economy climbed 0.8% on a quarterly basis and by 2.9% on a year earlier, with Ireland seeing 1.2% growth compared to the first three months of the year but a 1.4% contraction against last year.
The jobs market also weakened over the second quarter, with employment climbing by 0.2% against 0.3% over the first three months of the year.