Business Times: Q1 Eurozone economy chalks up 0.5% growth: Q1 Eurozone economy chalks up 0.5% growth
Q1 Eurozone economy chalks up 0.5% growth
The eurozone economy grew 0.5 per cent in the first three months of this year from the final quarter of 2004 amid wide divergences between individual countries, a second estimate released on Thursday by the EU's Eurostat statistics arm showed. The rate, which was unchanged from a first estimate, marked an improvement from the 0.2 per cent growth posted by the 12-state eurozone in the fourth quarter of 2004. The Eurostat growth figures showed that across the full 25-state EU, growth was also 0.5 per cent in the first quarter following 0.3 per cent in the last quarter of 2004. On a 12-month basis, the eurozone economy grew 1.4 per cent in the first quarter and that of the entire EU 1.6 per cent. Separately, the European Union's executive commission forecast that the eurozone was on track for growth in a range of 0.1-0.5 per cent in the second quarter and 0.2-0.6 per cent in the third quarter.
