European GDP Declines Slow in First Quarter

Eurostat says of gross domestic product in Europe:

GDP fell by 0.2% in the euro area1 (EA17) and by 0.1% in the EU27 during the first quarter of 2013, compared with the previous quarter, according to second estimates published by Eurostat

In the fourth quarter of 2012, growth rates were -0.6% and -0.5% respectively. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP fell by 1.1% in the euro area and by 0.7% in the EU27 in the first quarter of 2013, after -1.0% and -0.7% respectively in the previous quarter.

Not surprisingly, the worst of the damage among the region’s largest economies was in France (down 0.2%), Italy (down 0.5%) and Spain (down 5.0%).