Germany skirts recession, boosting euro zone economy

Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) unexpectedly grew in the third quarter driven by government and household spending, skirting a recession amid fears that Europe’s biggest economy would contract for a second consecutive quarter.
The economy expanded by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter compared with the previous three-month period, preliminary data from the statistics office showed on Wednesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter decrease in adjusted terms.
The statistics office also revised data for the second quarter to a 0.3 per cent contraction on the previous quarter, from a 0.1% decline previously reported.
Separately, the federal labour office reported that the number of people out of work in Germany rose more than expected in October.
The office said the number of unemployed increased by 27,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.86 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected that figure to rise by 15,000.
The seasonally adjusted job rate remained stable at 6.1 per cent.
“The autumn upturn in the labour market has largely failed to materialise this year,” said labour office head Andrea Nahles.