The German economy grew at its fastest pace in the second quarter since the country was reunified two decades ago, fuelling the strongest growth in the eurozone in more than two years.
Europe's largest economy powered ahead between April and June, growing by 2.2%, thanks to a recovery in construction and strong foreign demand for German goods, the federal statistical office, Destatis, reported today. This was well above market expectations of 1.4% growth. Growth in the first quarter was revised higher to 0.5% from 0.2%.
Germany's stellar performance helped the 16-member eurozone grow by 1% in the second quarter, the strongest growth rate since the first quarter of 2008 and a strong improvement on the 0.2% recorded for the first three months of this year. No detail is available yet, but exports, investments and a backlog of work in the construction sector after a harsh winter are expected to have been the main factors driving growth.
"After three difficult months of eurozone battering, today's numbers will help to heal the eurozone's wounds. For the first time since the second quarter of 2009, the eurozone outpaced the US economy," said Carsten Brzeski at ING.
America grew by around 0.6% in the second quarter of 2010, slower than earlier in the year.
More: German economy surges ahead at record pace | Business | guardian.co.uk
Europe's largest economy powered ahead between April and June, growing by 2.2%, thanks to a recovery in construction and strong foreign demand for German goods, the federal statistical office, Destatis, reported today. This was well above market expectations of 1.4% growth. Growth in the first quarter was revised higher to 0.5% from 0.2%.
Germany's stellar performance helped the 16-member eurozone grow by 1% in the second quarter, the strongest growth rate since the first quarter of 2008 and a strong improvement on the 0.2% recorded for the first three months of this year. No detail is available yet, but exports, investments and a backlog of work in the construction sector after a harsh winter are expected to have been the main factors driving growth.
"After three difficult months of eurozone battering, today's numbers will help to heal the eurozone's wounds. For the first time since the second quarter of 2009, the eurozone outpaced the US economy," said Carsten Brzeski at ING.
America grew by around 0.6% in the second quarter of 2010, slower than earlier in the year.
More: German economy surges ahead at record pace | Business | guardian.co.uk
phew I'm glad I'm not working or living in a country that hasn't previously outsourced the strong manufacturing export market and would attempt to fix the terrible economic situation they're in by large scale spending cuts, increasing unemployment and tax hikes..
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