STORY: The euro zone economy grew faster than expected last quarter.
But it wasn’t enough to improve a weak outlook.
Official data showed Wednesday (October 30) gross domestic product in the 20 countries sharing the euro grew by 0.4% from the previous three months.
It beat expectations but still showed weakness as industry stayed in recession.
Household consumption also barely grew.
The bloc stayed on pace for full-year growth at or just under 1%.
The biggest surprise in Wednesday’s numbers came from Germany.
Europe’s largest economy grew by 0.2% on higher public and private consumption.
That was despite officials predicting a recession given the struggles of its huge industrial sector.
France and Spain also showed unexpected resilience.
But the figures indicate the bloc is still behind the U.S., which reports annual growth figures Wednesday.
On Tuesday, U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump threatened Europe will pay a ‘big price’ if he wins.
He has also promised to impose a 10% tariff on imports from all countries.
Any new tariffs would likely to lead to retaliation, raise costs and lower global trade.
U.S. trade hostility would come on top of escalating tensions with China.
The EU decided this week to raise tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles to as much as 45.3%.
Looking ahead, markets have priced in another interest rate cut from the European Central Bank of 25 basis points in December.
