Euro zone growth slowed more than expected in euro zone countries in the third quarter, to 0.3% rather than 0.4% in a third revised estimate released by the EU's data office today.
In the second quarter, growth had rebounded by 1% in the 16 euro countries - now 17 since Estonia joined on January 1, 2011 - after a 0.4% increase in the three previous months.
Eurostat, however, confirmed its previous third-quarter estimate of 0.5% growth across the 27 European Union nations. Of the EU 27, Sweden saw the strongest growth at 2.1%, followed by Luxembourg at 1.5% and Poland at 1.3%.
In the euro zone's leading economy, Germany, growth slowed to 0.7%, a strong contrast to the previous quarter's rebound of 2.3%. Growth was 0.3% in France - compared to a previous estimate of 0.4% - after 0.6% in the previous quarter.
Growth was 0.3% in Italy, better than the previous 0.2% estimate, but Spain and the Netherlands saw zero growth. Previous estimates for the Netherlands saw a 0.1% fall.
Across the euro area, consumption increased 0.1% in the third quarter, Eurostat said, revising downwards its previous estimate of 0.3%.
It also revised investment down 0.3% against a previous estimate of stable growth. Exports rose by 1.9% and imports by 1.5% compared to a previous estimate of 1.7%.
Compared to 2009, GDP increased 1.9% in the third quarter across the euro area and 2.2% in the EU 27, Eurostat said.
Euro zone official unemployment stuck at 10.1%
Unemployment across the 16 nations that share the euro was stuck at a historic high level of 10.1% in November, the latest European Union figures show today.
Over 15.9 million people were out of work in the euro zone as the unemployment rate remained at the same level between October and November, according to seasonally-adjusted Eurostat figures.
However, compared to October the number of unemployed actually fell by 39,000 in the single currency area, which grew to 17 members in January with the addition of Estonia to the club. Compared with November 2009, unemployment rose by 347,000.
In the wider, 27-nation EU, the unemployment rate was also unchanged, remaining at 9.6% in November, with 23.25 million men and women out of work.
The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.4%), Luxembourg (4.8%) and Austria (5.1%).
Spain, which has launched an austerity programme to fend off market concerns about its fiscal health, remained the bloc's worst affected country, with an unemployment rate of 20.6%.
