“As manufacturing and wider industrial production slumped, GDP slowed from 0.4% quarter-on-quarter to 0.3% in the three months to September, against consensus expectations of continued 0.4% growth” he said.
Zangana noted that Germany disappointed with growth slowing from 0.4% to 0.3% quarter-on-quarter. Growth in France picked up from a flat second quarter to 0.3% growth quarter-on-quarter in the third, he noted,
“Details within the data show that final demand was much weaker than implied by the headline GDP figure,” Zangana continued. “When inventories are excluded, France’s GDP would have contracted by 0.5%. Elsewhere, Spain posted strong growth of 0.8%, which is a slight moderation compared to 1% quarter on quarter growth in the previous quarter. Italy on the other hand continues to struggle, recording just 0.2% growth, he added.
“Overall, the latest official growth data from Europe suggests a slowdown in activity, but a reasonably robust and stable recovery,” Zangana explained. “There is little here to cause alarm, and would not be enough to trigger any major change in monetary policy. That said, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi appears very eager to expand quantitative easing for Europe, despite reasonable growth and recent upside surprises in inflation,” he added.
