- Pantheon Macroeconomics
Quarterly GDP growth showed a positive trend in the Euro area, rising above previous quarter levels even after a downward revision. Euro zone's seasonally adjusted GDP showed a 0.5% gain, topping the 0.3% advance in the final quarter of 2015, but falling short of analyst expectations, who estimated no change in the measure after revision. The yearly GDP growth was revised slightly down as well, as it displayed a 1.5% improvement, repeatedly causing analyst disappointment. While almost all of the countries in the Euro zone experienced higher growth, with the exception of Latvia and Greece, Germany led the way with an immense improvement in economic performance, as its quarterly GDP expanded by 0.7%, compared to a previous 0.3%. Other large Euro zone economies showed a strong positive trend in their quarterly GDP as well, with France advancing 0.5%, the Italian economy expanding by 0.3% and Spain staying steady at 0.8% growth. Discussion on political uncertainty has, however, fuelled doubts over the sustainability of Spain's future growth estimates.
A separate report showed Germany's inflation rate slipped into negative territory in April, with the CPI gauge falling 0.1% year-on-year, compared with the preliminary estimate of the 0.1% increase.
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