LONDON (AP) – The eurozone economic recovery lost momentum in the third quarter of the year, official figures showed Friday – a development that’s set to pile further pressure on the European Central Bank to expand its monetary stimulus.
Despite a series of tail-winds, the 19-country eurozone grew by only 0.3 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter. That was below market expectations for a second-straight 0.4 percent quarterly rise. On an annual basis, the eurozone economy was 1.6 percent bigger, ahead of the 1.5 percent rate recorded in the second quarter.
The eurozone started recovering from its longest-ever recession a little over two years ago but growth has never managed to get out of a narrow range, even after a series of tail-winds, such as cheaper oil, a lower euro and weak inflation.
Confidence remains fragile in a region that’s spent much of the past seven years dealing with a debt crisis that threatened, at times, the future of the euro currency itself. Unemployment remains at a high 10.8 percent despite modest declines in recent months and governments are still under pressure to rein in spending.
Early indications are that eurozone consumers drove the growth during the third quarter, helping to compensate for subdued industrial and trade activity in many parts of the region.