The German economy expanded by just 0.3pc in the third quarter of the year from the second, the statistics office said today Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic growth, rose by 0.3pc sequentially and by 0.9pc from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Office The figure was in line with expectations, and indicates a slight improvement in the performance of the economy in the second quarter, but economists said the data still indicates that Europe's largest economy "remains weak"
In the second quarter, the economy had grown by 0.2pc from the first quarter and was up 0.4pc year on year "There are no clear signs of a turnaround," said analysts at Bank of America this morning Germany's closely watched index of business confidence from the Ifo institute has fallen in the five months to October, largely to weaker exports and a flagging manufacturing industry Meanwhile, French consumer spending rose more than expected in October, statistics office Insee reported this morning. Household consumption of manufactured goods rose 1.0pc in October compared with September, beating economists' 0.5pc forecast.//www.fxcentre.com