Eurozone dodges recession with zero growth in Q1

The eurozone reported zero growth in the first quarter, beating forecasts of a 0.2% contraction and narrowly escaping a technical recession.

The stagnant growth figure followed a 0.3% contraction for the single currency bloc in the last three months of 2011. In contrast, Germany surprised with 0.5% growth, although France saw its economy grind to a halt, posting zero growth in Q1. Italy shrank a shocking 0.8% in the first three months of the year after a positive Q4 as the country continued to struggle through the next wave of the European debt crisis. The eurozone growth rate has outperformed that of the UK, which slid back into recession in the first quarter as the economy shrank 0.2% in Q1. Howard Archer, chief U...