HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE

France, Eurozone Out of Recession

After 18 months of contraction.

Bring out the champagne, the Eurozone is out of recession. According to economic data released on Wednesday, GDP grew by 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2013, slightly ahead of forecasts. Germany and France both had unexpectedly strong growth, with France growing by 0.5 percent over the same quarter last year—the best results in two years. France’s unpopular Socialist government took credit for the turnaround, although analysts said that the unexpected growth came from improved domestic consumption, with industrial output increasing only accounting for minimal increases. Portugal, one of the countries that had been forced to take a bailout from the eurozone, reported 1.1 percent growth. But it wasn’t all good news: Spain’s economic output fell by 0.1 percent, and Italy and the Netherlands both dropped 0.2 percent.