German Economy Grows By 0.7 Pct In 3rd Quarter

GEIR MOULSON

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's economic recovery gathered pace in the third quarter, as growth accelerated to 0.7 percent on a rise in exports, official data showed Friday.

The quarter-on-quarter expansion in the July-September period followed gross domestic product growth of 0.4 percent in the second quarter, when Europe's biggest economy emerged from a deep recession.

The second-quarter figure was revised upward from the 0.3 percent initially reported.

The Federal Statistical Office identified exports, the traditional driver of the German economy, as a key factor in the third-quarter performance, along with investment in equipment and construction. Imports also rose. However, consumer spending declined and was a drag on growth.

Germany went into recession last year as demand for its exports dried up amid the global economic crisis.

After shrinking for four straight quarters, including an eye-watering 3.5 percent decline in this year's first three months, the country technically emerged from recession with growth in the second quarter.

Although it fell just short of economists' forecast of 0.8 percent, the preliminary third-quarter figure was the strongest since the first quarter of 2008, when the economy expanded by 1.6 percent.