European economy has good showing
The European economy bounced back with unexpected strength in the second quarter, buoying hopes that a worldwide recession was drawing to a close.
The sharp improvement from the first quarter underscored just how far Europe and indeed the global economy had come since a harrowing free fall in late 2008. Underlying the strong reading were solid performances in France and Germany, each of whose economies grew slightly in the second quarter, according to data released Thursday.
Though very dependent on government spending, Asia has shown sharp improvement. Forecasters expect growth of up to 9 percent this year and more than 10 percent next year. Meanwhile, the brutal contraction early this year in the United States has eased, with signs pointing to modest growth in the second half.
The economy of the 27-country European Union shrank 0 paydayloan.3 percent in the second quarter, for an annual rate of roughly 1.2 percent. The 16 countries that use the euro registered a 0.1 percent decline, or roughly 0.4 percent.
Despite being in negative territory, the European data looked much better than in the first quarter, when both the European Union and the euro zone contracted 2.5 percent from the last three months of 2008.
The significant easing of the recession put Europe roughly on a par with the United States, where the economy shrank at an annual pace of 1 percent during the second quarter.
Filed under: finance by Specialist