The report said business inventories rose by 0.3% in September after inching up by a revised 0.1% in August. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus increased to Euro 20.1 billion from Euro 19 billion in August.
Advertisement
The increase reported by the Federal Statistical Office was a tad lower than the 0.4 percent increase reported in the second quarter.
During the third quarter of 2015, GDP in the United States increased by 0.4% compared with the previous quarter (after +1.0% in the second quarter of 2015). The third quarter growth came in line with expectations.
French economic growth restarted in the third quarter as low prices and borrowing costs spurred consumers to spend and businesses to invest in the eurozone’s second-largest economy. GDP figures for the euro area are scheduled to be published later on Friday, with economists predicting the expansion held at 0.4 percent.
Howard Archer, chief United Kingdom & European economist for IHS Global Insight, said: “No details have been released of the component breakdown of third-quarter Eurozone GDP, but based on the evidence from individual countries it does look odds-on that negative net trade was a significant factor limiting growth”. The central banker has signaled more stimulus is in the pipeline, citing renewed downside risks for growth and the region’s inflation outlook, which risks becoming entrenched well below the ECB’s goal of 2 percent.
The improvement in GDP underpins the French government’s expectation that the economy is on track to record the strongest year of growth since Socialist leader François Hollande became president in 2012.
Elsewhere, Spain posted strong growth of 0.8%, which is a slight moderation compared to 1% quarter on quarter growth in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, manufacturers have been struggling with a slowdown in global demand on the back of China’s downturn and turmoil in other emerging market economies.
Official figures show that economy of the 19-country eurozone lost momentum during the third quarter despite a number of tail-winds.
“Bottom line: the eurozone recovery is continuing, but it seems like driving with the handbrake on. With the emerging countries still in the doldrums, little acceleration is to be expected in the coming quarters”.
Advertisement
Predictably, bailed-out Greece contracted sharply by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter as the debt crisis and capital controls this summer threw the economy into disarray.
