The Eurozone economy picked up in the first quarter of the year, overtaking Britain\u2019s GDP figures.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s turnaround was among the most remarkable \u2013 its economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the three-month period, double the estimated 0.3 per cent in the UK.<\/p>\n
Under Francoise Hollande, the\u2008French economy dived into recession across 2012 and 2013.<\/p>\n
Maxime Sbaihi, an economist at Bloomberg, said that France would need to keep repeating its strong first quarter performance \u201cto reverse the investment decline and finally start bringing down a record-high unemployment rate\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Vistesen said: \u201cOverall, this is a strong GDP report but it is also distorted by a number of one-off factors. The increase in consumer spending is encouraging, but the underlying trend in private investment growth remains poor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just last month economists described France as “lost in stagnation”, as surveys of its private sector showed the country lagging the Eurozone’s other large members.<\/p>\n
In the final quarter of 2014 the economy did not grow at all, before a spurt in the three months to March.<\/p>\n
Other troubled economies also picked up. Italy registered growth of 0.3 per cent, compared with flat or negative GDP numbers in the previous three quarters.<\/p>\n
Spanish growth accelerated from 0.7 per cent to 0.9 per cent, and by a healthy 2.6 per cent in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n
By contrast Germany saw GDP growth slow from 0.7 per cent at the end of 2014 to 0.3 per cent.<\/p>\n
Statistics agency Destatis, which compiled the figures, said: “The German economy continued to grow at a slightly slower pace.”<\/p>\n
Analysts had expected weaker German GDP figures, but had not appreciated the magnitude of the coming slowdown. Economists had pencilled in growth of 0.5pc for the period.<\/p>\n
The wider Eurozone economy grew by 0.4pc in the first three months of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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