Eurozone economy improves

Economic output in the 18-nation eurozone grew 0.2 percent in the third quarter, according to figures released by the EU's statistics office on Friday.

The uptick by 0.1 percent from the previous quarter was mainly the result of higher growth in Europe's second-largest economy, France, and a robust acceleration in the crisis-hit countries in the eurozone's southern periphery.

Between July and September, the French economy boosted output by 0.3 percent, compared with the same quarter last year, growing out of a contraction of 0.1 percent in the second quarter. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin described the data as a confirmation that the government would reach its goal of 0.4 percent higher gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

"Economic activity has picked up slightly but remains too weak to ensure the job creation our country needs," Sapin said in a statement.

Laggards catch up

Stronger economic activity was also reported from crisis-hit eurozone members in southern Europe. Greece, which had been locked in a depression for more than two years, saw its GDP expand by 0.7 percent. The growth rate added to hopes in the debt-laden country to exit a bailout from the EU and IMF next year.

The Spanish economy, whose banking sector was also bailed out with EU taxpayers' money, logged growth of 0.5 percent in the quarter, meaning that Italy and Cyprus were the only members of the currency area that remained in recession.

On a European Union-wide scale, Romania recorded the strongest economic expansion at 1.9 percent.

Germany falls behind

Europe's economic powerhouse, Germany, just scraped by a technical recession - defined by two consecutive quarters of falling GDP. After shrinking 0.1 percent in spring, German GDP grew a modest 0.1 percent in the summer quarter.

Referring to Germany's record of impressive growth in the past two years, ING DiBa analyst Carsten Brzeski noted that the "glamour of a second German economic miracle seems to have gone."

"Since early 2013, the German economy has grown by an average of 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter, making the country rather a one-eyed king in the land of the blind than economic superman," Brzeski told the news agency AFP.

In related news, Eurostat also released new figures on the inflation rate in the currency area, showing prices had increased by just 0.4 percent in October.

The figure is far below the European Central Bank (ECB) goal of 2 percent inflation, and an indication that the eurozone economy is far from seeing the robust upswing needed to overcome mass unemployment and weak business activity.

uhe/cjc (AFP, Reuters, dpa, AP)