Growth remains soft in Q3
The Eurozone economy kept its slower cruising speed in the third quarter, after growth halved in the second quarter. According to a preliminary estimate released by Eurostat, GDP increased a seasonally-adjusted 0.2% in Q3 from the previous quarter, matching Q2’s result and slightly overshooting FocusEconomics panelists’ expectations of a 0.1% increase. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally-adjusted GDP expanded 1.1% in Q3, a notch below Q2’s 1.2% increase and marking the slowest growth rate since Q4 2013.
Although no details behind the figure are yet available, a downbeat manufacturing sector amid global trade tensions and weak demand from key trading partners likely continued to muffle growth. Meanwhile, additional data released by national statistical institutes across the Eurozone showed largely unchanged dynamics: Italy’s economy continued to stagnate in the third quarter, while growth was steady in both France and Spain.
Commenting on the GDP release, Senior Economist Bert Colijn at ING noted:
“The eurozone economy didn’t slow further in 3Q, which is already something to be relieved about in the current environment of uncertainty and poor monthly data. Still, taking the 0.2% growth rate together with a sluggish start to 4Q and slightly higher unemployment in September reveals an economy in need of positive news about the trade environment to keep from sliding further.”
More comprehensive results for the second quarter are scheduled to be released on 14 November, 5 December and 20 January.