Euro GDP growth is slowing down

The rate of growth in European economies is slowing in the fourth quarter, the European Union Statistics Office of Luxembourg reported today. Europe’s gross domestic product grew 0.4% in the fourth quarter, after rising 0.8% in the third quarter. The slowdown mirrors the U.S GDP numbers which rose 0.2% in the fourth quarter after jumping 1.2% in the previous quarter. Economists attribute the European slowdown to reduced consumer spending and less demand for exports as well as rising food and energy prices. The countries that demonstrated the largest GDP growth rate, according to seasonably adjusted data from the third and fourth quarters, were Slovakia (+3.1%), the Netherlands (+1.2%) and Spain (+0.8%). In the fourth quarter, Lithuania, whose GDP dropped 1.1% from the previous three-month period, was the only European country to record a decline.