Carlo Boffa and Johanna Treeck
The eurozone economy showed surprising strength in the third quarter, defying the narrative that the bloc is heading for a protracted slowdown.
The eurozone’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.4 percent between July and September, beating an analyst consensus of 0.2 percent, according to preliminary estimates published by the European Union's statistics agency. That represents an acceleration from 0.2 percent in the previous quarter.
Concerns over the health of the economy intensified over the summer, amid signs of a sharp slowdown in manufacturing. Such fears, along with a marked drop in inflation, have since led the European Central Bank (ECB) to step up the pace of interest rate cuts to provide relief to the economy.
The ECB has repeatedly argued that consumer spending would increasingly support growth, against a backdrop of slowing inflation and rising real incomes, and it’s likely to take the news as vindicating that argument.
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