Net exports, investment and consumption drove euro zone economic growth in the last quarter of 2018, data showed today, offsetting a sharp drop in inventories.
The European Union's statistics office Eurostat confirmed its earlier estimate that gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.2% quarter on quarter in the three months from October to December.
But Eurostat revised down to 1.1% the year-on-year number for the fourth quarter from 1.2% estimated in February.
The numbers confirm a slowdown in the euro zone economy from the more robust growth rates in the first and second quarters of 2018.
This is the factor that markets expect the European Central Bank to take into account by phasing out more slowly its monetary stimulus to the economy.
Pace of euro zone growth continued to ease in Q4 pic.twitter.com/GZRo2QefDQ
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Eurostat said household and government consumption added 0.1 percentage point each to the final quarterly growth result and investment also added 0.1 point.
Net trade gave an additional 0.2 points helping offset a 0.4 point drop in inventories.
During the fourth quarter Eurostat said that Estonia had the fastest rate of growth at 2.2%.
But the average was dragged down by slight declines in Italy and Greece, while Germany's economy stalled in the period.
Meanwhile, employment in the euro zone rose 0.3% on the quarter and 1.3% year-on-year, Eurostat said.
The highest number of jobs were added in construction and information and communication services and the biggest number of jobs disappearing in agriculture, forestry and fishing, arts, entertainment and financial and insurance activities.
Estonia was again the strongest performer in the quarter, but four other countries saw employment levels fall, including particularly sharp drop in Poland and Latvia.
